Simple
by YamiYugiPuzzleshipper
Summary: "Oh shut up. Life is never meant to be simple. If it's simple, you're not living." Social suicides. High school. Love-hate relationship...things. Complications. "Bad boys" and "geeky enigmas". Lemons. If you can't handle yaoi, don't read.
1. Opposites

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Note: Story will be updated every Wednesday**

**Warnings: TONS of cursing in story**

Chapter I: Opposites

Yugi Motou was quite literally the smallest person in the school. He stood a head shorter than the second smallest person, Yami Sennen. And Yami could not figure out for the life of him how Yugi of all people was _the _bad boy of the school. Between the two of them, they shared spiky hair predominantly black with golden-blond bangs, long black lashes, and of course they wore the same uniform. But the similarities ended there. How were the innocent, rounded blue-violet eyes more intimidating than that of the sharp, demonic red ones Yami owned? How was it that Yugi struck fear into the hearts of others while Yami seemed to draw people in?

Maybe it was the choker around Yugi's neck. It looked like it might be enough to mark him as a bad boy because it was like a fucking collar and Yami had his very few fleeting thoughts of what that collar was for. They ranged from his parents hooking him on a leash to make him behave in public to him being a sex slave.

He would rather it be the first. Because at least that was funny. Being a sex slave? Not so much.

But then it was Yugi's business. If he was kinky, that was fine. His own business. No one else's. Still, that didn't stop Yami from wondering. Who the fuck wore a collar? And outside of school, Yugi dressed the part of his school role, he supposed—black tank top, studded bracelets, leather pants, leather jacket or sometimes his school jacket if he was too lazy, and studded black boots.

Sex slave was the only thing that really connected all of those dots in Yami's head.

He didn't ever mention it, however, because who the fuck would go up to someone and ask about their outfits? Who went up to someone else and asked if they were sex slaves? And was it possible to ask that in a nice way that would ensure that they would not be pissed off at them?

Yami pondered this as he stared at the kid in front of him; Yugi, Ushio—he understood why he was a bad kid with the big build he had and the way his brown eyes looked wild enough to just pick out prey, Joey—he understood with his background, and Tristan—again with the background, all stood at the edge of the school entrance, leaning against the wall and talking.

Two former gang members, a _current _gang member and _the _most innocent-looking sixteen-year-old in the world. And here Yami had expected Yugi to be some kind of ferocious looking monster rather than a boy who just _barely _even reached five feet if he even reached _that_.

Rivaling his own popularity, the four of them were up there, but they weren't popular in a way besides being troublemakers. Yami was popular because he was smart and everyone knew his name because he had the highest grades out there. But then, if another were in his situation, they would have to keep their grades up just as much.

"Don't let them see you staring."

Yami turned his head and stared at his soft-spoken friend. "Why not?" he asked in a bored tone. "It's not like they'll start anything."

The purple eyes narrowed a little. "You have no idea."

"Please, the blond over there is stupid enough to mistake me for his friend," he responded with a roll of his eyes, turning back; that had happened way too many times. "Besides, even those four are scared shitless by Bakura and Malik."

Beside him, his companion let out a light laugh and Yami smirked. Oh yes, his cousins were legendary with their dangerous personalities and disregard for everything; how many fires had they started in the chemistry labs just this week? He couldn't count them on both hands. Every other time he turned around there was news of his cousins burning something—marshmallows, pencils, even a cigarette once because Bakura got bored and wanted to see if it hurt to put out on his arm…god his cousins were so strange. Why Bakura thought that wouldn't hurt was beyond him but whatever.

Oh, well look at that. The four of them were now focused on him. Ushio looked disinterested and bored, Joey looked like he wanted to punch him for the very many times Yami had snapped at him because his name was not Yugi or "yummy", Tristan looked as he always did—indifferent. And Yugi…well Yugi had an eyebrow raised a little as if challenging him.

He could easily rise to that challenge. Yami never backed down from one, but four against one hardly seemed fair and he wasn't even sure if that challenge was directed towards him because his smaller look-alike was talking and it caught his stupid blond friend's attention.

The blue-violet eyes were curious. They feigned indifference but Yami could see the curiosity there. He knew what to look for because he himself was master at feigning things and Yugi was a novice in comparison. No one knew how to shield themselves as he did. There was no one.

But now Yugi looked away and spoke to the group and only Ushio was watching him, that bored and indifferent look still plastered to his face but his eyes were narrowing and he was starting to look mad.

"Oh geez."

Yami ignored his friend's comment and his lips curled up into a smirk, first to the left and then to the right, slowly, his lips stretching leisurely, an extremely direct show of challenge, a direct show of superiority. A direct show of self-confidence. Of predatory interest.

Ushio glared and then turned away.

Yami won.

* * *

"Motou and Sennen."

Yugi turned his head and stared at the red-eyed male on the other side of the room, narrowing his eyes a little as Yami didn't even glance at him, instead looking at the teacher with a bored expression and then looking at his worksheet.

"Dude, that sucks," Joey whispered next to him, nudging him with his elbow. Yugi fought the urge to roll his eyes; it was not Yami's fault that Joey could not keep their names straight and who the hell gave him the right to call him "yummy" anyways? Or "Yams"? His name was only four letters and if Joey could remember the name Yugi and his own name, what the fuck was wrong with him that he could not remember the name Yami?

Four letters. Started with Y and ended with I. It was only two letters from his own.

Finally Yami looked up, locking eyes from him. Yugi had to blink twice to see that the disinterested look was a mask because when he blinked Yami's expression changed to pure amusement.

The kid was an enigma. He was geeky as hell, had the perfect grades, he was known as a dork _because_ of his perfect grades, and yet he was like a spitfire. The staring he had done earlier that morning when he was with Mahado in the courtyard, that said something way different from the normal average geek. They would have looked away immediately when they got caught. Instead Yami had smirked at Ushio as if he were a sheep grazing in a pin that belonged in the wolf's territory.

And the way he had done it so easily, so obviously relaxed and challenging, was beyond different.

Yami was popular for being the smartest kid in school. Well, if Yugi himself was not counted, because he wasn't sure as far as that went. While Yugi kept up the persona of the bad boy, he was expected to be brainless and he was far from it, but compared to Yami? He had no idea where he stood…

"Please rearrange your seats so that you can sit next to your partners and I will hand out the rubric for you to look over and the choices of which topic you would like," the teacher announced, looking excited.

Yugi narrowed his eyes at Yami who merely sat back and didn't bother to get up; oh, so he thought that Yugi was going to move? Screw that. He stayed exactly as he was.

The teacher looked between them and, of course, not wanting to upset the bad boy of the school, turned to Yami. "Is there a problem, Mr. Sennen?"

Yami looked over at him and gave a purely innocent look. "I can't walk right now. My leg is asleep," he replied, his voice just as innocent as his widened and confused red eyes; Yugi nearly burst out laughing at the display.

"Very well. Mr. Motou, would you please move over here then?"

Yami turned his head and the left side of his mouth quirked up into a smirk, the movement slow and lazy like it had been that morning, a display of power, of predatory leisure.

Yugi didn't bother to respond. He just got up and went over, plopped down in front of Yami and smirked widely at him; who had time for slow when they could go fast? Yugi was a quick person. He had patience but not for stupid things. Yami's little display was anything but wise.

The teacher began passing out the rubrics and Yugi looked his over, staring at the list of colonies for a long time; why did they have US History again? And why had he signed up for it? He didn't want to go to the US. Unlike Tea…

He narrowed his eyes. Tea wanted to go for dance. Yugi didn't say it but he didn't think she could make it with a scholarship with the grades she had. She spent too much time dancing and not enough doing her homework and schoolwork. Instead she floated by on C's and no scholarships were offered for C's.

Oh that was right. Egypt. That was why he had joined this class. They were going to learn about Egypt and Yugi's grandpa loved it in Egypt so Yugi wanted to learn about it…

"Virginia," he stated with finality. Yami didn't reply but as soon as the teacher came over he said, "North Carolina" in which the teacher marked them down for it.

Yugi gave him a sharp look and Yami merely raised an eyebrow, obviously unimpressed. Oh yeah, Yami was definitely an enigma.

They spent thirty minutes just talking about when they could get together for the project and thus decided that the next three weeks they would get together on the weekends and any free days after school—Yugi had these in plenty but did not say anything and Yami just threw this idea out because he knew that he would end up doing most of the project himself—as well as getting together in the library during lunch.

Yami honestly couldn't understand why Yugi was agreeing with him because Yami knew for a fact that he would end up doing it all anyways and Yugi would not help at all; he nearly rolled his eyes when Yugi stated that they might as well go to the library for lunch today to get started but instead nodded and agreed as he saw fit to do.

There was no point in arguing with him anyways.

At lunch they sat next to each other at a small square table, Yami looking at his books and Yugi overlooking the rubric with a bored face; while they looked at this, Yami couldn't help it when he asked, "Why are you even bothering?" in a sharp voice.

Yugi looked at him and the smirk was in his eyes but not on his lips. "And so it begins," he said under his breath, earning him a sharp look from Yami who did not speak but narrowed his eyes and glared for a moment. "Exactly why wouldn't I help out?"

"Because you have your little gang to go around playing with, right?"

His eyes narrowed and his voice grew a little louder but because of their location, his words came out in a hiss. "We are not a gang, you stupid ass." Blue-violet eyes rolled with clear annoyance. "And just because I hang out with the three of them does not mean anything."

Yami was about to open his mouth but then stopped short when Yugi dug into his binder and pulled out a single sheet of paper. "You want to know who got the highest grade on the test? Because he said that it wasn't you," the smaller teen said, sliding it over to him; Yami didn't look surprised but in the smallest corner of his eye, just beneath his pupil, his gaze sparked with interest as he looked closely at the paper. "So don't make the mistake of calling me stupid when you don't even know me, Yami. I don't know you and you don't know me, okay?"

Yami stared and then tilted his head slightly before handing it back to him. "I apologize," he replied, looking up with a sincere expression on his face; Yugi blinked once before following it with a second one. "I was wrong to jump to assumptions and I apologize. It was wrong of me to do so and I hope you can forgive me."

No one had ever spoken to him like this, not formally like this. Anyone else would have scoffed or called him a cheater—he'd been called that so many times it was not even funny—but they would not have apologized as Yami had done. And especially not in the same way as he did.

He didn't answer for a moment, stunned by the sincerity that he had heard in the red-eyed boy's voice and even more so by the same emotion showing in the red depths.

"Sure," he finally replied, feeling strange and stripped to nothing with the deep soulful eyes that were staring straight into his. Yami sat up a little straighter from the position he had been slumping forward slightly in and Yugi searched his eyes for the smallest moment. Anyone else would not have noticed the subtle shift of his gaze but Yami was observant of everything and everyone around him and so he was immediately alerted to this movement. Yugi was trying to read him and while Yami usually locked his emotions securely behind a wall in his eyes, he was willing to show the sincerity.

"Will you allow us to start again with a clean slate?"

Yugi swallowed. Did Yami always speak like this? Or was he trying extra hard with him because he was worried about the others in his group?

No, Yami was not afraid of them. That was apparent with the smirk and the fact that he had undermined Yugi's decision for Virginia as soon as the teacher had come over again; Yami was not a coward like most of the people in the school. He didn't take it when Yugi made demands for their project subject and he didn't step down from Ushio in the schoolyard earlier.

In the two years that Yami had been in this school with them, Yugi had never once spoken to him or so much as locked eyes with him before; they operated on separate scales and the fact that they were put together for this project had seemed like an insult to both of them. Yugi only found it insulting because his friends were all over him about it the moment Joey told them and Yami because he had unrightfully assumed he would be given the responsibility of the entire thing.

"Yeah, okay," Yugi finally agreed, narrowing his eyes. Yami nodded at him and his eyes were now emotionless, wiped clean; Yugi was awed by that single fact. There was a layer of ice to the red eyes, a barrier, a wall that made him completely unable to read him at all in this moment. Yugi had never seen such a complete control over one's emotions in all his life and it shocked his core. He envied this so significantly he was ashamed but oh, how much he would give to be able to do the same…

All his life he had been dubbed an open book and it irritated him to no end. He strived to do what Yami had just done.

"Hey, Yugi," a familiar female voice called and Yugi looked up to see the tall blue-eyed brunette form of his best friend since kindergarten, Tea Gardner. Yugi leaned forward a little in his seat, immediately aware of how desperate he must look to Yami, but when he shifted his eyes the slightest bit to take in his reaction to his movements, the taller of the two was instead studiously ignoring their newcomer, making marks on his own rubric and circling a particular checkmark on the list.

"Hi Tea."

He was pretty sure his voice came out different, maybe a little deeper? Or maybe it was higher? Either way, it changed and he was aware of that but it always happened when she was close. Because he would be stupid to not notice how hot she had become over the years.

"So, are you—Yami Sennen?"

And the question was completely forgotten. _Yugi_ was completely forgotten.

Yami looked up to give her a silent nod and his voice was normal, without a single change in its deep baritone pitch, when he stated, "Tea Gardner" as if it were the most insignificant thing in the world. His attention was immediately back on his rubric again, his eyes taking in another sweep of the rubric as he circled yet another point…

Yugi felt the jealousy flare deep in his bones. How the hell could Tea just ignore him for someone who could not care less about her existence? He wanted her attention back on him but instead it was all on Yami and he instantly, in that single moment, hated someone for the first time in his life.

Tea leaned forward and Yugi realized that she was trying to show off her cleavage despite the uniform she was wearing, not that she really needed to because she had rather large breasts anyways… The deep royal blue bow was almost eye level with Yami's face, the pink jacket was practically bulging with the way she was bent over, and her short blue pleated skirt was pushed slightly up to expose a little bit of the curve of her ass.

Yugi got to see this but the fact that her chest was in Yami's face drove him insane with jealousy. Oh yes, he definitely hated Yami in this moment. If he did not depend on Yami for this project, his head would be cut off and put on a stick and Yugi would parade around with it.

"It's a shame we don't have a class together," Tea said in a slightly lowered voice.

Yami and Yugi both caught the sultry edge to it, but Yugi was now glaring at Yami who was ignoring the attention he was being given; finally, after circling another note on the rubric, he turned to her and said, "I haven't had a class with you at all since I've been here."

And his voice was not harsh but it was not very friendly either and Yugi nearly lunged at him. How dare he speak to her like that?

She ignored it and said, "Yeah, that sucks, huh?" with a smaller lean towards him.

Yami didn't look down once. He kept his eyes on her face and his eyes narrowed the slightest degree; she was pretty in the plainest of ways. She did not wear makeup. She had a relatively heart-shaped face. She had bright azure eyes that were pretty. She had a plain haircut with bangs, her hair just above her shoulders.

"Not really," Yami replied easily, shrugging and sitting back with a straighter posture, putting his pencil down and looking at her. "We've never exactly spoken before this moment, Tea."

And then she flushed. And Yugi saw red.

"She's just trying to make conversation!" he snapped.

Tea looked at him in surprise. "Calm down Yugi," she admonished and Yugi looked at her, glaring slightly before his expression softened the smallest bit. "It's true. We've never spoken to each other before. But that's only because we never had a class together."

And her attention was solely on Yami again. Yami kept his back straight, his head raised a little as if he were feeling threatened, and his posture may have looked relaxed but Yugi could see that his muscles had tensed the smallest bit.

"There's no guarantee we would have spoken even if we had classes together," Yami said calmly, narrowing his eyes slightly; did Yugi normally let Tea talk down to him like this? No wonder she never acknowledged his crush. "We could have sat on opposite sides of the room. There weren't any partner projects that I had in any of my classes so the possibility of us having spoken is actually very slim. Especially considering I had almost all of my classes with your friend Joey."

This was directed towards Yugi and that was why his eyes were on the smaller teen who looked irritated but surprised by his sudden attention; he blinked once and then narrowed his eyes and Yami got the message, turning away to Tea again.

"In all honesty, we probably would not have spoken at all even if we did have classes together."

Tea frowned a little, obviously not liking her attempts at flirting shot down and Yugi stared plainly at Yami with an expression that said he was insane to shoot her down like this; Yami could not understand why guys considered her one of the hottest girls in school. She was hardly anything to look at but then he guessed it was just the fact that she had bigger breasts than most of the girls at school.

Her, Vivian, Mai, and Mana. The four hottest girls in school because of their bodies.

Tea seemed nice enough but if she was willing to treat her friend like he was a child and she was above him and ignore his crush, flaunt her stuff at his look-alike, he could honesty say that he had no interest in even being friends with her.

Yugi finally decided to push his jealousy away and reached for the paper in front of Yami, pulling it over to him and feeling Yami's attention immediately on him as well as a more reluctant Tea. "What are these?"

"My weak points," Yami stated easily. "I need you to help me out with them with this project because I really can't do too well with them."

Yugi stared at the page for so long he might have gone cross-eyed. So even the smartest boy at school had weak points. He pushed the page back over. "Sure, I can help out with that."

Yami nodded and Tea looked between them, irritated by the lack of attention; when Yugi glanced at her, the warning was clear in her eyes that she wanted Yami's sole attention and he needed to stop interfering. The smallest teen in the school turned away and looked at his own rubric before following Yami's lead and circling some of his weaker points as Tea smiled a little and turned back to the taller male.

"That's pretty smart," she praised him.

Yami turned to her and the disinterest was blocked out by the blank look in his eyes. "Thanks," he replied.

"Do you do that for all partner projects?"

"This is the first one I've had all year."

Of course it was. The school year was just beginning, after all. He noticed the slight smirk that crossed Yugi's face, obviously amused by this statement and the fact that Yami had just deflected Tea's flirting.

She blinked and then flushed a little. "Well, I mean for all partner projects as in…in general."

"I've never had a partner project before now."

This statement struck Yugi as odd. It managed to make him look over to study the boy beside him. All throughout his years before high school he had definitely participated in a ton of partner projects. It was actually like a rite of passage in order to even prepare for high school.

But then…he had never heard of a Yami Sennen before in Domino City. Although, Yami might have just lived in a different part of Japan.

That would not have been different at all. Although he was pretty sure the schooling system was relatively the same.

Tea used Yugi's only thoughts to her advantage.

"So, then what about before high school?"

The atmosphere changed suddenly, very suddenly, with this question. Yugi felt it and it made him raise his head, but Yami's pose had not changed and his eyes had not faltered in their defenses. But the air around him was suddenly different. Yugi did not know what it was but it was definitely there.

"I was home schooled."

It was so simple an answer that it shouldn't have sent alarms off in his head, but it still did; sirens wailed at high pitches as he stared at the other boy.

"Excuse me," a tall man with dark hair said, coming over to their table and looking at Tea; Yugi looked over as well and narrowed his eyes with annoyance, knowing that he was about to tell Tea to leave. He wished he would tell Yami to leave and Tea to stay and then he instantly felt bad for that thought because Yami did nothing to him and had not even flirted back with his crush's attempts. "You have a project to do at the computers."

Tea nodded a little, frowning. Of course her teacher would cut into her attempts to flirt with Yami. "Okay," she replied and then turned to them, smiling. "See you later guys."

Yami did not even blink when she winked at him and Yugi turned red with anger at the display of his ignorance and her flirting with him. He glared for a moment at the teen beside him but Yami was immediately turning to him a second later, staring.

"What did you circle?"

Yugi stared at him for a moment and then turned to his paper, looking it over before sliding the paper over to him. Yami was immediately looking at it and it irked him severely, making him growl, "Really?"

"Do not get pissed off at me. I did nothing to you. It is not my fault you have a crush on a girl who doesn't pay attention to you aside from admonishing you," Yami snapped, not bothering to look up. "I don't even want to date anyone. I have plans for after high school and dating would ruin them severely."

Yugi narrowed his eyes and glared. "So you didn't care that she just flirted with you?" he asked sharply, not buying it for a moment.

Yami turned his head and stared at him. Yugi froze when he saw the cold dangerous glint in his eyes, hiding in the outer edges of his irises, easily hidden if he wasn't so close to him and paying attention. "I have plans for after high school that dating would ruin," he repeated in a deadly calm voice. "So no, I do not care that she flirted with me. I do care that she hurt you with her careless flirting with me. I apologize that it pissed you off but I did not take part in it and as so, you should not take it out on me."

Yugi would have opened his mouth but he was a little overwhelmed by the look in Yami's eyes and the way his voice had dropped dangerously. For a moment he just stared and then he finally nodded and muttered, "Sorry."

Yami didn't care for it but he still accepted it regardless. "Shall we start over for real this time or would you rather we continue biting at each other's heads?" he replied, his voice growing lighter and his eyes guarded once more.

Yugi stared and alarms went off in his head at Yami's sudden change of demeanor but he still nodded a little, fighting off the unnerved sensation that made itself known in the back of his mind.

* * *

Mana was immediately on him as soon as he stepped into the courtyard, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him over to her. "Tell me everything."

"Such a gossip."

She grinned at his teasing and rolled her eyes. "Of course I am. Now spill."

Yami looked over at the blonde girl next to him and smiled a little. She was one of the sweetest people he knew, but she was so excitable it was amazing she could function properly half the time, always yapping and shivering like a Chihuahua when she was wound up.

But she was beautiful, he admitted that much. She had gorgeous golden-blonde hair that was predominantly straight but curled up at the ends and long bangs that framed her face nicely. Her blue-green eyes were always bright with happiness and kindness. Her face was heart-shaped and clear, flawless, and her long eyelashes brought her eyes and her creamy skin to attention to anyone looking her way. She never wore makeup aside from once putting on some eye shadow for a dance and she had shown him the pictures. She had a nice curvy body and her personality definitely made her even brighter.

Yami liked her. He thought she was beautiful. But he was not interested in any way past friendship and in all honesty, maybe there was something wrong with him to think that when guys practically fell over themselves with thoughts of dating her.

But then again, Mana was not interested in dating anyone either.

Mahado grinned at him. "Was it as bad as you thought it would be?"

Yami smirked a little and messed with the strap of his canvas bag before putting his hands in his pockets. "It was…well, not great but it wasn't horrible either," he replied evenly, shrugging. "We fought a little but we were okay for the most part."

Mana threw her arm around his shoulders and then leaned in to his face, giggling with her lips barely an inch from the flesh of his cheek; anyone else besides her and he would have told them to back off but Mana was a very touchy feely girl and she was exuberant in nature and though it had taken tons of time for him to get used to, he had eventually and he was now okay with this.

"Well that sucks. But tell me about him."

Yami's lips twitched. Mana had this thing for Yugi. It wasn't a crush but she had this habit of thinking he was awesome because he was so adorable.

"He's pretty smart."

"You sound surprised," Mahado snickered.

"No," Yami argued, shaking his head a little. "I knew the kid was smart. I never doubted that. I just…didn't expect him to agree to do _all_ of the project with me. I mean, I didn't really expect him to make a schedule for the project with me."

"Schedule?" Mana asked, pulling away a little and staring at him in surprise. Mahado's eyes flickered to a point over Yami's shoulder but then he was immediately paying attention to him again. Yami would have thought something had happened but then realized that he had probably just seen someone walk by and just paid attention for that single moment.

"Yeah, we're going to be getting together for the project every weekend and any free days we have after school and during lunch."

"Shit, seriously?" Mana whined and Yami smirked at her, chuckling.

"Yeah, so you can't really have your shopping buddy until next month."

"Why are you guys even going to work so hard on this project anyways?" Mahado finally asked.

Yami pulled away from Mana when she started flicking the ends of her hair over his face, both of them laughing.

"It's a pretty big grade," the red-eyed teen replied, pushing her hair away; when she kept going, Yami grabbed her hand, the two of them twining fingers for a moment as he gave her a playful glare and then pulled his hand away. "I mean, it's pretty much our first major grade and it's fifteen percent of our grades…"

"You are such a nerd," Mahado snickered.

Yami flipped him off and watched as Mana jumped a mile when a voice murmured, "I agree wholeheartedly."

All three of them turned towards Yugi who grinned a little; he had to admit that Yami had been rather nice from what he had heard since he'd gotten there. Mahado had looked at him and not told the other two despite the fact that Yugi didn't make a move towards him saying otherwise. And Yami had not badmouthed him at all, even stating that he had thought he was a smart kid.

"That's messed up," Mana grumbled, giving him a playful glare. "You shouldn't go sneaking up on people like that. It's not nice."

Yugi smiled at her. "Sorry," he replied, looking at her with a playful expression. "I was expecting your brother to say something but I guess not."

Mana turned around and swatted her laughing twin's arm; Yugi felt a little weird when he saw that Yami's attention was solely on the blonde. He had seen them playing and that same weird emotion had come up when he had seen their hands together, and it made no sense to him so he pushed it away.

Mana turned to Yami suddenly and grabbed him into a hug, pulling him extremely close to her and Yami chuckled as he rolled his eyes and patted her on the back. "You're a real bitch of a hugger," the blonde griped at him and Yami laughed before hugging her just as tightly; as soon as he lightened up she pulled away and danced over to her brother, winking at him. "See you later. Have fun you two."

Mahado laughed and shook his head before nodding at Yami. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye guys."

Yugi watched the twins walk off, smiling a little when he saw Mana turn her head to look at them over her shoulder, waving every once in a while and making Yugi's smile widen as he waved back. She was a pretty friendly person and he definitely liked that she was not ashamed to be that way.

"So how much of that did you hear?" Yami asked, appraising him with a guarded expression.

Yugi turned away from the twins to look at him and then shrugged. "All of it after you said that I was a smart kid," he replied, a smirk tugging at his lips.

Yami nodded almost imperceptibly. "Then you pretty much heard the whole conversation," he stated easily, his entire posture relaxed despite the way he held himself. He was still straight-backed, his aura was proud and nearly regal, and when he started walking Yugi could practically see the pride rolling off him in waves.

Yugi matched his pace, surprised by how fast Yami walked though maybe it shouldn't have considering how Yami had classes all across the school and he was never late for any of them; he knew that Yami's class before the one they shared was on the exact other end of the school and up three flights of stairs. Mostly he was surprised by the fact that Yami had been so friendly and gentle towards Mana. It seemed way out of character for the person he had thought Yami to be. He had figured he was only popular because he was a nerd and everyone went to him for things but if he was so nice to Mana it was possible that he was friends with others for other reasons that that.

"So, I was thinking that we would split the research between us in order to lessen the load of it," Yami announced, looking over at him and searching his face. "That way we can start on the rest of the project much easier and earlier than we could have otherwise."

Yugi blinked once and then shrugged. "So?"

Yami tilted his head and Yugi immediately felt bad for the borderline-snapping tone of his voice when he said, "So I thought that I would ask you if you were okay with this. Otherwise I suppose we could just split the work up completely between us but I figured it would be easier this way so we could work better with the presentation."

He turned away and his teeth worked at his bottom lip with guilt for his tone of voice when he was only trying to be nice to him; he felt his stomach twist as he realized not one of his friends had ever actually asked his consent about things. And yet Yami, who he barely knew, was showing him the decent courtesy. "Yeah, that…that's fine," he replied, letting out a breath. "But we still need to work out what format we're going to do with the project."

"I was thinking a poster," Yami murmured. "Past the essay, the visual does not really matter as much."

Yugi looked at him and messed with his backpack's straps, frowning. "What? I thought we'd do a power point. It makes more sense. It gives us more layout for information because we can make as many slides as we want."

"Yes, but a power point will just mean more time up in front of the class."

And that was when Yugi realized that he had never once actually seen Yami up in front of any of the classes they had had together over the two years they had been in high school together. And it was not a lack of projects given to present because they had been given them in abundance from ninth to tenth grade.

Yugi was shocked out of his mind when Yami pulled the door open and held it for him, eyes widening slightly before offering a small smile. "Thanks." Yami merely nodded and followed him inside. "So…I am kind of confused about something."

"Perhaps I could clear it up for you."

That was a little bit of a strange way of saying he would answer the question but Yugi didn't comment on this, instead turning to him as they walked towards the tables in the back. "All right, so I just remembered that I have never once seen you up in front of the class before," he admitted, taking a seat and pulling his backpack off; he watched Yami just sling his canvas bag onto the table where it skidded for a second before he pulled it back and dug through its contents to grab his binder.

"I always turn my projects in late if we have to present," the red-eyed boy stated, shrugging. "I refuse to get up in front of everyone so I just turn them in late when I know that the teachers won't make me present because it would disrupt the curriculum."

"Why?"

Yami didn't answer.

"I mean you sure as hell are not shy," Yugi stated, staring at him curiously. Why would someone as upfront, proud and regal need to hide away from others? Because he knew for a fact someone like him, who stood so tall and held such an abundance of self-confidence, was not shy, especially after Yami had stared down Ushio and dared to mess with Yugi's decision to work on Virginia instead of North Carolina, not to mention that Yami had gotten into more than one verbal spat with Joey and never once backed down.

"No, I'm not," Yami agreed.

And that was all he got out of Yami on the subject.

* * *

"I like your shoes," Yugi murmured, looking her over appraisingly. Tea smiled at him sweetly, modeling off her shoes which were bright pink and blue like the girls' uniform with white laces and her sneakers were cute even if she wasn't supposed to wear them since they weren't part of the uniform.

"Thanks," she said in a bubbly way, winking at him cutely.

Yugi felt his chest swell with the fact that Tea was paying so much attention to him and when she went over and ruffled his hair, teasing one of his bangs, he nearly fell out of his seat with happiness. Oh yes, Yugi was definitely turned on due to the attention, to the look of affection in her azure eyes. Plus the perfume was making him a little lightheaded with desire and though he could push it off somewhat, he couldn't push it away completely. And even better was the fact that Yami was ignoring this whole display as if his life depended on it. He wondered when Tea would get the point that Yami was not into her and he planned to be the shoulder she cried on. Well, if she didn't notice _before_ then, anyways.

Yami flipped the page in the book in front of him, digging through the information and looking for key words in order to pick out the facts that he needed for this assignment. Yugi could flirt all he wanted since the class had all gone to the library this period and was sharing it with Tea's class and they would not get in trouble for it this time around; at lunch Yami really hoped that Tea was not around so that they could get some actual work done and be alone to discuss their presentation further.

Because they hadn't decided whether to do a poster or a power point.

Yami had to admit that the more he thought about it, if he just limited the number of slides, maybe their presentation wouldn't be too long. Besides, posters could get messy and it was way too easy to just delete a slide from a power point, much easier than having to cut out pictures or write and erase.

He shifted his weight, putting his left elbow on the table and leaning his chin into his palm as he flipped the page and continued writing. In the twenty minutes they had been at this, he had written only two sentences and one of them he had erased so many times he was starting to make a hole in the paper. He flipped his pencil around in his fingers several times, still ignoring the stupid flirting going on in front of him because he didn't care to know who was doing what or what pathetic compliments they were feeding each other, and instead started copying some more facts, finally finding some information he could work with.

His hand started to hurt from the constant spinning of the pencil and his tightening grip due to the lack of information he had found so far. Two sentences, twelve words, and now he was adding twelve new bullet points to the open sheet in his notebook and would have to turn them into sentences as soon as he was done collecting information.

Tea took a seat next to Yugi and in front of Yami, staring at the other teen and making Yugi's anger flare again; what the hell was with her attraction to him? Why could she not see that he was not going to fucking pay attention to her?

"Did you do something to your hair?" he tried, grabbing her attention momentarily; she had curled it but it was hardly noticeable and Yugi just decided that he was going to pull it out of his ass in order to make sure that her attention was on him.

She ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, I curled it this morning but all of the curls are gone," she replied, and then her attention was on Yami again and he was about to wring the boy's neck. "So, Yami, how is the project going?"

He refrained from telling her to ask Yugi because he was _more _than willing to tell her, but decided against it at the last second; he was not raised to disrespect others and that had not changed just because he himself had changed location. So instead, to show proper respect, he raised his head and gave her a small half-smile, making sure that his face was blank of his irritation, and said, "It's going fine."

Yugi stared at him, feeling like some kind of animal whose mating ritual had just been interrupted; he felt like a bear, wanting to tear into him for treading into his territory, and it irked him to no end. He hated feeling this way and even worse was that he didn't want to feel this way towards Yami, not after Yami had been nothing but nice with all the crap he had put him through so far—snapping at him without cause, throwing out arguments almost every time he opened his mouth. If he were Yami, he would have lost his patience long ago and his patience for the smaller boy seemed legendary, especially considering that Yugi was a naturally patient person or so he was constantly told.

"Oh that's pretty cool," the brunette announced, smiling widely now that she had his sole attention; she didn't notice that he was spinning his pencil around impatiently between his fingers, she didn't notice that he had narrowed his eyes and so his red gaze was shadowed to avoid showing the agitation that was growing drastically in case his guard slipped up at all.

Yugi, however, did notice this and it made him smile slightly because it just reinforced the knowledge that Yami was in fact indifferent towards her attempts at flirting and it pleased him to no end. And then he felt bad for Tea because he knew the feeling of having his feelings rejected like that because Tea treated him as Yami did her and it hurt but he was petty with jealousy at the moment.

"Look, Tea, I'm sorry, but I have to get at least twenty sentences down and I can't talk while I am doing that," he said politely, trying to cut her off immediately before she could even start flirting with him again because he needed to do as much of the essay as possible to prevent them getting a lesser grade than the others because the teacher was taking what they had at the end of the period and they needed a good number because anything less than twenty was getting a failing grade and twenty was just barely there.

"Oh, okay," she said, looking disappointed.

Yugi continued staring at him and Yami's eyes flickered over for the smallest of milliseconds before he started digging into his work again, hurrying through and skimming the information before copying some again. Yugi had to admit that Yami had a smarter system than half of the kids in the class as far as information gathering went. He wrote fast, which was an added bonus, and thanks to the neat notes he wrote, it was easy for him to rearrange them into sentences later. They needed three sources for information by the end of the class and Yami had already gotten the packet they were given and recorded it as well as the two books he had gotten through. He was on his fourth now and Yugi liked his strategy to do the essay but he was also a little worried about the fact that Yami only had fourteen bullet points and they were already halfway through the class. He didn't doubt him for a moment because Yami strived under pressure, Yugi found out after Yami got through three books in the library in the last ten minutes of yesterday, gathering almost fifty facts and citing each of them without so much as a pause in motion. But he still worried. And then he felt bad because he was over here flirting with a girl who barely noticed him unless she wanted to get his opinion on something or point out a flaw or just mess with his hair.

Yami was immediately working on his paper again, trying to convince himself that he was under pressure because stress was a powerful motivator when it came to him, but found nothing. Only a minute later Tea got up and walked off with a farewell that Yugi echoed and then turned to Yami again, not glaring but not exactly looking at him with a friendly expression either.

He didn't really have a right to, but he asked anyways.

"Why haven't you asked her out yet if you're so into her?"

Yugi felt his eyes widen for a second and then glared and snarled, "Mind your own business."

Yami didn't try to hide the half-smirk that appeared on his face, writing another bullet point of information as he replied simply with "Very well."

Yugi never wanted to hit someone so badly before in his life but he wanted to punch Yami until he couldn't move his lips anymore. He glared but Yami ignored him and finally, when he felt his anger subside, he started to help him out, scooting closer to him and pointing out information that might be useful. Yami would either copy what he pointed out or state that it was not needed or that he had already written that one down.

With the two of them working together, they got twice as many notes though Yami seemed to be on the same page as him every time he started to point one out, writing it down almost before he could even say anything; it felt so strange to have a person work so well with him and one who was willing to work with him like this in the first place.

Because normally with partner projects he had been teamed with Joey and had been forced to do all the work for them because Joey was rather scatter-brained when it came to schoolwork and he got way too distracted to even do anything. Not to mention the first time they had worked together before they became friends, Joey had threatened to break his nose if he didn't do it and get a high grade.

Yami actually treated him with a lot more respect than he was used to and he was a lot friendlier than Yugi had thought him to be as well as being thoughtful towards him. He fought back, but he was not nosy and he didn't demand answers like he wasn't doing so now and Yugi found this to be good but he was so used to having his buttons pushed at that he was confused by a simple show of decency and it hurt to admit that.

"Sorry for snapping at you," he muttered, chewing his cheek.

Yami didn't look up at first and his pencil kept moving and for a moment Yugi thought he was ignoring him but then Yami stopped and looked at him, giving a small smile as he replied, "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

He was a lot more blasé than anyone Yugi had ever met if he was not offended by his display of anger and he blinked several times, shocked out of his mind that Yami was forgiving him so quickly.

"All right, start finishing up your rough drafts so I can see them," the teacher announced, standing up and watching them; Yugi watched as Yami flipped shut each of the six books in front of them and then started sorting through his notes, marking them with numbers on the side and then making sentences out of them on a fresh piece of paper.

He was amazed by how quick and efficient Yami was. His brain seemed on an entirely different wavelength, steps ahead of everyone else, making the essay seem professional even though he really shouldn't have been able to make all the sentences out of the facts that they had gotten. Not to mention he managed to use all fifty of the notes in only ten minutes.

When Yami finished he got up and Yugi hurried off with him to hand the paper over; their teacher looked stunned for a moment and then looked up and stared at Yugi when he said, "Did you do any of this at all?"

Yugi started to answer, to snap at him that he wasn't stupid and he could shove it up his ass because he was a piece of shit teacher anyways, but Yami cut him off with, "I write faster than him but he helped me find what we needed and even helped me sort out the notes so the essay would make sense."

The teacher blinked a few times and then looked at the sheet and started to read through it before making several red marks with the pen; all of them were punctuation, oddly enough, and Yugi remembered that Yami had circled punctuation down on his rubric sheet as one of his weak points. Yugi really needed to ask him about that because Yami was smart as hell and he didn't understand why punctuation—which Yugi found easy—would be a weak point for him.

He didn't get around to it that day.


	2. Ground Rules

**Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Note: Story will be updated every Wednesday**

**Warning: TONS of cursing in story**

Chapter II: Ground Rules

Yugi hummed as he looked at the shirt in front of him; he, Joey, Tristan and Tea were at the mall because the brunette loved to shop and she always wanted their opinions on the outfits she bought. This time, however, she was mostly going to Yugi and asking if he thought that Yami might like it since apparently she had some kind of misconception that because they were doing a project together they were best friends and Yugi was not happy about this.

Of course he wasn't happy about it. She was constantly asking him what Yami might like and what he wouldn't and while some of her clothes made his mouth water with lust, the joy of it was totally gone with the fact that she would not shut up about his look-alike. Why did she want him anyways? She didn't know him at all and Yugi was her best friend so why the hell did she go to him? They looked just alike! So what the hell made Yami better than him?

He crossed his arms, looking it over and tilting his head slightly. Oh yes, this looked like one of the shirts that Yami would buy. Graphic t-shirts with nothing to them. His lips quirked up into a small smirk.

Yami could not even accessorize. He didn't do anything but wear graphic t-shirts and baggy jeans. So again, what made him more desirable than Yugi?

He shook his head. He wanted Tea to be happy, even if it wasn't with him. If it was Yami who made her happy…

Even if he couldn't understand why she liked him over Yugi, he would help her out. And in order to do that, he would help Yami out.

His heart broke a little at the idea of doing this, but it was becoming more apparent that he couldn't hold a flame to Yami. Not after a whole week of Tea practically ignoring him for the red-eyed boy and constantly pushing him aside in order to talk to him. He just hoped that Yami would keep her happy…if they went out anyways. Seeing as Yami said that he had plans that would be destroyed if he dated anyone.

He was definitely confused about this but whatever. And it wasn't like he could explain to Tea what was going on if he didn't even understand.

So the least he could do was help Yami out with Tea because even if they didn't date, at least he did _try_. There was no guarantee that Yami would date her so he could just do this for nothing but it might also double as a way of him getting over Tea and after three years of crushing on her and having her ignore him, it was about time for that to happen.

He set his resolve on this one mission. He was going to get over her.

Not for Yami. Not for Tea. But for himself.

* * *

"Your clothing is kind of dull, you know," Yugi commented, looking him over with his left elbow on the table and his chin in his palm, watching him as he continued writing a note on his paper.

"So what?" Yami asked, ignoring him for a moment and then starting to write again, doubling his ten notes in only two minutes worth of time. He put his pencil down and shook his hand out; Yugi couldn't argue with his hand hurting because Yami had been writing for two hours straight now that they had gotten to the library after school.

"I was just saying," he answered, shrugging and sighing. "Do you want me to take over?"

"No."

"Fine, but you can't say that I didn't try to help you."

"No, I can't."

Yugi found it hard to argue with Yami when he was willing to see when he was wrong unlike his own friends who would bite at his heels until he somehow ended up apologizing even when he wasn't wrong.

"Why do you wear those anyways?"

Yami crossed his arms on the table and stared at him for a moment before narrowing his eyes. "Because I like them. Why do you care?"

"Because, like I said, they're just so dull, Yami."

"Yeah, but at least I don't look like some kind of bondage slave," Yami spat, finally losing his temper; his voice had dropped drastically and Yugi was surprised at first by the sudden display of irritation, but it died almost immediately.

"Well at least I'm not still a virgin."

Okay, that had to be the stupidest thing he had said in years because he had not even had a kiss before and he was most certainly a virgin but either way it came out of his mouth and he couldn't take it back, not that he wanted to when Yami responded.

"Well, not everyone is a slut, Yugi."

* * *

"Um, Yugi is staring at you," Mana murmured, eyes wide as she looked up over Yami's shoulder. Yami didn't respond immediately and when he finally did, she almost thought that he didn't care but then he twisted around and looked over his shoulder, locking eyes with the smaller teen.

Yugi continued staring and then crooked a finger at him to which Mana's mouth dropped open and Mahado's eyebrows shot up in surprise; Yami raised an eyebrow in challenge and then looked at Joey and back again. Yugi glanced at Joey as well and then sat back in his seat, realizing it was really not a good idea to have the blond and his red-eyed look-alike near each other. There really was no need for a dogfight.

Yami turned away and Mana waved to which Yugi waved back before he dove into a conversation about video games when Joey started talking; Mahado could not even begin to wrap his head around the fact of how strange it was to see the school's bad boy trying to get his friend over there. He was curious about the fact that they hadn't gone to the library for lunch but Yami had explained that he had asked for them not to because he had homework he needed to catch up on.

And he was catching up on homework and class-work and schoolwork in general, clearing up his entire schedule for the next week by finishing all of his future assignments by finding them online. Apparently Yami was pretty good with technology or just enough to do what he needed in order to find out how to get his assignments.

Yugi approached him after school as soon as they got outside; Joey and Tristan, Ushio and Tea were standing a little bit away when Yugi cut him off from where he was walking with Mana and Mahado.

Both groups of bystanders were surprised by his sudden appearance and Yami stared at him as if he had lost his mind for a moment before glancing over his shoulder and spotting them staring at him.

"You ready to go?" the smaller teen asked, messing with his backpack and watching him as Yami blinked several times and then furrowed his brows.

"Uh, yeah…sure, I guess…"

"Great. Let's go." And with that he grabbed Yami's arm and pulled him along, waving at Mana and Mahado and leading the way; Yami glanced over his shoulder at his friends who gave him confused looks and then shrugged, just as puzzled as they were.

"So here's the deal," Yugi announced, gaining Yami's attention; his head snapped around and his eyes were immediately on him, blinking once and then twice. "We're going to be taking a slight detour."

"A detour?"

"Yeah, I have to pick up something from the mall," the smaller teen announced, blue-violet eyes seeming to smirk at him; Yami didn't like the look to them but he didn't argue against it. "So before we go to the library, we need to go there."

He wanted to be a smartass and ask him why they had to go there first but it was common knowledge that the mall closed earlier. He may not have ever actually gone to the mall before, but he at least knew that it closed before the library.

"All right."

Yugi smirked as he turned away. At least Yami was an agreeable person.

When they got there Yami looked a little spooked. Yugi wasn't sure why, but he also knew better than to ask so instead he merely focused on getting Yami to the clothes before he realized there was nothing to pick up. By the time they got to Yugi's favorite store Yami was on to him but didn't say anything.

"All right," the smaller announced, smirking at him. "Let's get you some new outfits and then we can start on our project."

A single eyebrow rose in defiance of his request and Yugi crossed his arms and glared, tapping his foot and then gesturing with a nod of his head and a pointed look. Luckily, instead of arguing, Yami just walked inside the store, but Yugi wasn't oblivious to the fact that Yami's body had tensed up somewhere between the time he was outside and the moment he walked in.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Have you never been in a mall before?" he asked, trying to sound disdainful but coming off as completely curious.

Yami grimaced at his question and then muttered, "I tend to avoid them."

"What? Why?"

"Too many people."

"Oh, so that's what it is. You're antisocial."

This time it came out disdainful and full of scorn and it made Yami stop to stare at him in surprise for a moment before narrowing his eyes. "There are a lot more things in life than having everyone's attention," he snapped icily. "And this bad boy shit is exactly that, isn't it? Because you crave attention and this is how you get it."

Yugi's jaw clenched. How the fuck did he know that?

"Shut up. You don't know anything about me."

"I know more about you than you think. I know that you're the bad boy because you want attention. I know that you've had a crush on Tea for a year prior to my knowing you. I know that you're frustrated with me because she likes me over you. I know that you're pissed off at me right now because you can't understand how someone couldn't want attention. I know that your parents—" He shut up abruptly and then turned on his heel and headed for some pants.

Yugi didn't let him off the hook that fast and snatched his wrist in an iron clad grip when he caught up to him. "What was that about my parents?" he snarled in a fierce voice.

Yami looked at him for a long minute and then suddenly—and Yugi could not figure it out for the life of him—his wrist was free and he was walking away from him again. He blinked once, then twice, taking off after him and getting to his side, spitting, "What did you just say about my parents?"

"I did not just say it. I said it five minutes ago. Get your facts straight."

"Well not everyone counts the minutes. I bet you know the fucking milliseconds too don't you?"

Yami did not answer that he had been keeping track of his time in Japan of two years down to the milliseconds as Yugi suggested. 730 days, 1051200 minutes, 63072000 seconds, and 6307200000 milliseconds and that was only the two years. Adding in the months that had already gone by, he was at 789 days, 1136160 minutes, 68169600 seconds, and 6816960000 milliseconds. His stomach hurt with the thought.

Yugi saw a look of pure pain cross his face and froze. Oh crap. Had he hurt him?

"I—"

"Shut up."

Yami was completely emotionless again, walking past him and looking at the shirts in front of him; Yugi was shocked to see that they were in fact not graphic t-shirts. Instead they were tank tops and Yami was regarding them with the most curious expression Yugi had ever seen.

"What? Have you never seen a tank top?"

"I sit next to you every day don't I?"

Yugi didn't realize he was teasing him until Yami's lips quirked up at the corner, his eyes flickering to look at him. He felt a small blush of embarrassment light his cheeks and went wide-eyed; he hadn't blushed in years. It didn't work with the bad boy persona that he showed off at school. He went to answer sardonically but Yami was no longer looking at him and was instead sorting through the clothes, grabbing a couple of tank tops and thrusting them into his hands.

Yugi was no stranger to this because Tea always did this to him when they went shopping so this was no surprise but he was not happy with the fact that he was apparently Yami's slave now. He didn't argue, however, thinking it a waste of breath to do so, and ignored the indignation that flared through him every time that Yami added more clothes. Oddly enough, most of the clothes looked like what Yugi himself would wear and for a moment he was confused. Did Yami expect him to try these on?

Yugi followed him through the store with a small curious expression, confused by this behavior. Yami normally showed common courtesy towards everyone and now he was treating him like his personal slave and that made no sense to him. Unless, of course, Yami was just like everyone else and thought that he had control over him too. The thought hurt in all actuality and he didn't want to admit that to himself.

When they got to the changing rooms, Yami took them from him easily, pausing and staring at him in plain confusion and blinking a few times before his cheeks started turning red and he fled back into one of the stalls. Yugi stared after him, puzzled and a little dismayed by his actions, unsure of what had just happened; ten minutes later Yami had gone through all sixty-something outfits and looked so sheepish it was not even funny.

Now Yami carried his own clothes, putting more than two thirds of the clothes back and then taking the other one back to the register; Yugi nearly choked when he saw the amount they equaled, mouth falling open and his eyes nearly bugging out of his head. He bought expensive things when he had the money and he knew that most of his clothes were normally on the expensive side, but holy crap, he had never spent close to two hundred dollars on one trip!

He had the money, but to spend it in one place…

He started to dig into his pockets but Yami was already two steps ahead of him, pulling his wallet out and handing over a shiny red and black and dark blue debit card to the cashier who rung it up and asked, "Would you like cash change?" with a wide-eyed, flirty expression on her face.

Yami didn't even so much as blink at her when he replied, "No thank you."

Yugi didn't miss the look of frustration that passed over her face or the way that Yami took his bag with a small smile but a look to his eyes that clearly stated he was not interested in her without being too obvious about it. The cashier got the message and pushed the bag at him to which Yami snatched it off the counter and turned to him. "So, did you want to get something too?"

He had not been shopping in so long that he had forgotten that Yugi was not there to carry things for him and he felt his stomach sink as Yugi stared at him in surprise for a few moments and then slowly shook his head. Fuck, how badly had he already messed up?

"No, we should go ahead and get our project going, right?"

Yami frowned. "I guess."

At the library Yugi was shocked out of his mind when Yami managed to roll all of the clothes he had bought and stuff them into his backpack and make it look as he just had extra books in there.

"So, about the clothes thing," Yami murmured, putting his backpack down and turning to him, "I didn't mean to make you carry my things. I…um…"

Yugi could practically see the thoughts behind his eyes, frowning when he saw the embarrassed and slightly worried gleam to his eyes. Now that he paid attention, he could see that Yami's emotions showed in certain areas of his eyes when he hid them away from others trying to read him. They only showed in those designated areas and they flashed for a fraction of a second. He had a feeling that it only happened when he got distracted in his thoughts and he couldn't push them away because of his concentration being severed.

"It's fine."

"No it's not."

"Yami, seriously—"

"Yugi, it wasn't fair and it's not fine. You're not my slave and yet I treated you like one and I'm sorry," Yami cut him off, grimacing. "It was never my intention to do so and I apologize. I…don't normally go shopping anymore."

He realized when the red eyes darkened and narrowed that it was definitely a bad idea to ask about it so instead he pushed his curiosity away and went to the bookshelves, glancing over his shoulder to see that Yami had his face in his palm and was shaking his head. He looked tensed and tired and maybe even exhausted with the posture he had adopted, his shoulders slumped forward and his back no longer straight, his head down and his left arm lying on the table while his right shielded his face. His muscles looked like they had seized up and locked and his stomach twisted.

What the hell was wrong with him?

* * *

"So…you haven't really worn any of the clothes you bought," Yugi commented suddenly to him as they took seats next to each other in the library. Yami looked up in confusion and the smaller teen raised an eyebrow at him, putting his binder down next to him.

"I don't want to wear them just yet," the taller red-eyed teen stated quietly. He would probably never wear them until after he was eighteen and he felt sick with that idea. It was weird, because Yami used to wear clothes like Yugi's when he was younger, well…aside from the fact that most of his tank tops showed off his bellybutton. It was really just a form of rebellion because his parents pissed him off and he decided he would wear whatever the hell he wanted and ordered them online, but he had liked the style. And now, in Japan…

"Why not? They were nearly two hundred bucks," Yugi commented.

He didn't explain that the debit card he had used had a lot more money than just _that _on it and instead focused on going through his own binder looking for his rubric. "So?"

"So it's a waste of money if you don't wear them."

They were most likely a waste of money anyways. When he got back, his parents were not going to let him wear those clothes. In fact, he'd probably be put under much worse rules and restrictions than he ever had before and that thought sickened him.

"And you might as well take them back so someone else can buy and actually _wear _them, Yami," he pushed at him, narrowing his eyes; if Yami were smaller, he might be able to wear them himself, but because of Yami's taller frame, he definitely doubted it. "You could have spent it on more important stuff if you weren't going to wear them."

"It's none of your fucking business what I do with my money and my purchases, damn it. I didn't even want to go to the mall, Yugi, you did. And for what reason I don't know and I sure as hell don't care to find out," he spat angrily, glaring.

"I was just trying to be nice," the blue-violet-eyed boy argued, glaring back.

"Well don't! I never asked you to be nice to me!"

"You're a real antisocial piece of shit, aren't you?" Yugi snarled at him angrily.

"At least I'm not some kind of whore."

"Really? Because if I look one then so do you."

"By what means?"

"You look like me!"

"No, you look like me, Yugi."

"Bullshit. I bet I'm older than you."

"No, I assure you that _I_ am older than _you_."

"Fuck you. There's no way."

"February sixth, you little bastard."

"_Damn _it!"

"Yeah, so fuck off."

"Just because you're older than me doesn't mean anything!"

"No, it doesn't, but it also doesn't mean anything that you're younger than me!"

Both of them ended up glaring at each other for the first hour of their time at the library. Yami refused to back down and Yugi didn't want yet _another _person to have the right to look down on him and it irked him that Yami might do so.

"Look…we have a project we need to do," the taller boy murmured, narrowing his eyes. The smaller continued glaring at him angrily. "We need to call a truce so that we can get this project done as quickly as possible, right? And then we can get a good grade and never have to bother with each other again, okay?"

Yugi felt a small pang of disappointment at Yami's words. It was true, in all actuality. They would probably never really bother with each other after this project. Not with the way that they were always on other ends of the hierarchy at school. Sure Yami was an enigma who never really abided by the weird rules that most geeks followed and he was pretty popular, but all of Yugi's friends aside from Tea—oddly enough the more he thought of them together, the more the pain started to leave him only because he knew that Tea would be happy with Yami if he dated her—had a problem with Yami. Joey hated him because he always snarled at him about calling Yami by Yugi's name, Ushio because Yami frustrated him because Yami beat him up when he too mistook Yami for Yugi—Ushio wanted lunch money that Yugi didn't have—and Tristan didn't really have a problem with him but sometimes he would lose his temper and just go off about whoever it was they were talking about at the time of his blowout and most of the time that would happen to be Yami purely because of Tea's shameless crush on the red-eyed teen. And Yugi didn't think that his friends would get along with Mana and Mahado for the most part.

He didn't really care personally that it was _Yami _he would probably never bother with again. Mostly it was just that no one had the balls to stand up to him like the red-eyed teen seemed to. Everyone else cowered when he snapped and there really was no way for him to get them to participate in an argument. Yami did that, however. He needed someone wouldn't back down all the time and who would challenge him.

Even if they were just used for being the butt of his jokes, the relief of his stress. He craved someone—anyone—who would not cower when he lost his temper. Yami at least seemed to be someone who would never back down even if he tried to kick his legs out from under him and smother him with nasty bites that would leave tons of emotional damage later.

Even his friends backed off when he fought back. They pushed and pushed and were stunned when he snarled at them, so stunned that they couldn't even think straight long enough to come up with a response and so went immediately quiet.

Yami didn't do that. So far he bit back where he received one and he wasn't afraid to snap at him and push until he couldn't push anymore. It was a fucking _relief_ to be around someone who had enough fire to fight back because the rest of them all hid away with their tails between their legs and it was getting annoying.

"All right, so let's stick to one conversation topic and not past that."

"You mean like ground rules?"

"Yeah." Yami had never liked ground rules but if it helped him keep his fucking mouth shut—he'd never really had so much trouble before but his and Yugi's arguing and snapping at each other like this made him frustrated and frustration gave him a big mouth if he wasn't immediately aware of what he was saying—he would embrace them like a lover if he had to.

"All right, fine. So…how about family and accessories?" Yugi announced, narrowing his eyes. "We can't talk about them or ask questions about them. Got it?"

"Sure, as long as you respect my boundaries of money and clothing as well."

"Fine."

"Great."

For a moment both of them were silent and then Yugi smirked at him and his voice was sardonic and sneering when he asked, "So why are you such a geek?"

"Why are you such a slut?"

Yugi couldn't help but laugh at his remark. "Such a geek."

"Such a slut."

Both of them started laughing, grinning and then turning back to their books; Yugi flipped a couple of pages and Yami got his binder open to take out his own rubric and loose leaf sheets of paper.

"So, anyways, I was thinking about it and if we do a poster, we can get up in front of the class for less time," Yugi started, making Yami look up at him. "But then the project rubric says that the more information in the presentation the higher the grade we'll get. So if we do the power point, we can put more information on the slides. But, also, the more slides we have, the less information we could put and have it look like we did more work. We just have to keep a minimum of at least five minutes up in front of the class and we'll be good."

Yami didn't respond immediately like Yugi thought he would. He found it kind of irritating that he had to wait for him to speak but at the same time, he liked the things that Yami had to say and so he didn't rush him. His answers were usually intriguing and sparked something inside of him that he had never really had before—pure and unfiltered anticipation and interest. No one managed to pull that from him anymore. They were all boring and stupid, like dolls. Yami was different—an enigma.

"Okay, but if we do the poster, we can just write smaller so that it looks like we have more information and with pictures, it will look like we've given it a lot more work."

"Okay, but if we do the poster, we have to get up in front of the class and if we do a power point, we can just stand behind the projector and the laptop and talk from there."

"No, he'll make us go over and point it out as we go along."

"We don't know that for sure, though."

"Maybe not."

"What is it with you and not wanting to get up in front of the class? I know you aren't shy and you even agreed."

"Yeah, let's add that to the topic of what we can't talk about."

"What?"

"Talking about oneself. I abhor it."

Yugi pursed his lips. How was he supposed to talk to him if they weren't even going to talk about themselves? How could they even make friends? Yugi wanted to at least know the boy that he was handing his long time crush and best friend over to and how was he supposed to do that if they couldn't even talk about themselves? Plus, what else was there to talk about?

"Fine I guess…" He grimaced and rubbed at the back of his head. "So then, why the hell are you a geek?"

"Why the hell are you a slut?"

"Fair enough. I like being a slut." If being a slut meant un-kissed, crushing on a girl for three years, being treated like a doormat by the four he called his friends, and acting out because he wanted attention. Ooh, ooh, an _attention_ slut. That definitely worked.

"Well, I like being a geek." If being a geek was code for troublemaking outside of school, being afraid of almost everything since he came to Japan, homesick, and desperate for companionship he couldn't quite get from Mana and Mahado no matter how hard he tried.

"Why?"

"Because I still have plans after high school is over and in order to obtain them, I have to keep my grades at their highest."

"I like the attention."

"I knew it."

"Yes, yes, you knew it."

Yami smirked at him and if Yugi hadn't been paying attention to his eyes, he would have missed it when the playful gleam entered them. "You're a little mental aren't you?"

"And you're a little secretive aren't you?"

"With good reason."

"Not better than mine."

"We're not comparing them because that would get a little too close for comfort."

"Good point."

"Yeah, have to remember the ground rules."

"Yep."

"So is the attention worth it?"

"Worth what?"

"Worth all of the trouble you go through to get it."

Yugi looked away and started messing with his own book again. "Sometimes, not always, but sometimes," he replied with a roll of his eyes. He waited a few minutes and then slowly looked over at him, tilting his head slightly in sardonic challenge. "Are the plans you have for after school worth alienating yourself like you have?"

Yami didn't get offended like Yugi had expected him to.

His eyes became shadowed, flickered but showed no emotion, lowering to the table. His eyelids lowered so that his eyes were only half-open. His gaze stared blankly at the sheet of paper in front of him.

"I don't know."

* * *

"Wait, where are we going?"

Yugi sighed. "My house."

"What? Why?"

"Because we need to start working on the presentation part of the project and if we're going to do a slideshow—"

"We never agreed on that."

"I know that but—"

"Then why would you assume—"

"I'm not assuming anything, I just thought that we should see which one we think is better," Yugi replied, cutting him off easily in order to keep from fighting with him; after two weeks of working together, refining their essay over three different times because Yami really _did _have an insane weak point for punctuation, they still fought like cats and dogs every now and then though they had settled to mostly joking around. Yami was actually very easy to mess around with.

It begged the question of why more people weren't like him, why they all got so offended so easily at the smallest things. Why they all became carbon copies. It also begged the question of why he was friends with those four morons—Tea included; they all treated him like a doormat and he was sick of it but he didn't have the energy to deal with the crap that would come of trying to assert his dominance.

"You have a thumb-drive right?" Yami asked after a moment, playing with his royal blue school jacket and watching as Yugi nodded with a small humming noise; Yugi's house was within walking distance and Yami had to appreciate that. He'd gotten a headache from lack of sleep after a phone call from his mother two days before and it was driving him insane. Irritable, cranky, pissy. That was exactly what he was.

Yugi's house was a game shop that looked oddly like a turtle—the mouth was the front door, the turtle's flesh was completely yellow, the roof was green, and Yami guessed they were security cameras or something but there were two black machines just beneath the green roof with the word "Game" in large purple letters. The windows were all red in frame and Yami liked the shade of it—deep but not too deep, kind of bright but not too bright.

Yugi led the way in, the bell on the door ringing as they walked in. Yami glanced around. There were a lot of games. He recognized a lot of them due to his cousin and his own gaming experiences, but holy crap, there were also older games too and it made his lips twitch; at least Yugi's home had a nice selection and didn't discriminate just because the game had grown older than most people liked to play…

"Grandpa, I'm home."

There was a shuffling in the back and Yami turned away from some Duel Monster cards—he had never lost but he never exactly played it anymore since he and his cousin had gotten into a massive fistfight over his winning against him because he accused him of cheating because he had the Egyptian God cards Obelisk the Tormentor, The Winged Dragon of Ra and his very personal favorite the red two-mouthed dragon Slifer the Sky Dragon—to see the short—but taller than Yugi—gray spiky-haired elderly form of Solomon Motou.

"Ah, Yugi, welcome home." And then plum-colored eyes were very suddenly on Yami. "Ah, you must be one of Yugi's friends from school, huh?"

Yami blinked and Yugi rolled his eyes next to him, saying, "Grandpa, this is Yami Sennen. Yami Sennen, this is my grandpa. He's doing a project with me in history class. You remember, the one I that told you about before?"

His grandpa blinked once and then smiled. "Oh yes, he decided to be an asshole and choose North Carolina over Virginia," he said with a wink at Yami while Yugi groaned and covered his face with his hand.

"Yes, Grandpa, that would be Yami."

"I think my stories precede me," Yami muttered with a good-natured roll of his eyes, lips twitching in amusement. "Did he tell you how he demanded we did Virginia without even giving me a chance to say anything?"

Solomon started chuckling and Yugi glared at him fiercely.

"Shut up, asshole."

"Yugi!"

Yami chuckled softly and messed with the strap of his canvas bag. "Let's get started," he announced, looking to Yugi who sighed and rolled his eyes.

"We'll be upstairs, Grandpa."

"Sure."

Yugi led the way upstairs while Yugi glanced over his shoulder once and spotted the Slifer the Sky Dragon Booster Pack; oh yes, he did love the red two-mouthed dragon. Definitely his favorite Egyptian God. The Winged Dragon of Ra looked like a giant chicken as far as he was concerned and Obelisk wasn't really the one he used very often because he was the least favorite of the cards.

Solomon looked over at the cards and then at Yami and smiled a little; he recognized him, Yami realized with a sickening feeling. Yugi's grandfather recognized him…

"Yami."

He turned back to find his shorter look-alike at the top of the stairs waiting, gesturing for him to follow and he glanced back once before hurrying up after him; Yugi led the way to his room and took a seat at the desk, starting up the laptop set there, and pulled it onto the bed, patting the spot next to him. Yami hesitated for a moment, uncomfortable with the fact that they were alone and sitting so close together; everything in him was geared towards pulling away as soon as he sat down and he had to fight off a blind panic in his stomach for several moments.

Yugi noticed. Yami knew he did. But he was nice enough not to mention it.

"So I was thinking that if we do the power point, we could also present one that isn't the complete one and we can turn in the complete one for points while having the shortened be solely for the purpose of presenting. Plus, we might still be able to stick it out behind the projector instead of having to get in front of the class and hold up a poster."

"All right. So then will you keep the thumb-drive or shall I?"

Yugi turned towards him with wide eyes as his laptop booted up. "Wait, so we're going with the power point?"

"We…might as well. It makes sense. We can just copy and paste and it's not as messy as posters tend to be. Plus it's easier to recover on the computer than if we accidentally made a mistake on a poster. We throw something away and we're screwed over." He sighed and looked at the laptop, hitting the enter button and watching as the screen changed to a few rocks and water. He recognized the screensaver as the same of his own laptop. "Maybe I don't want to be in front of everyone but the visual counts just as much as the essay if not more and in retrospect a poster would be a rather stupid idea."

Yugi blinked. "Plus it's easier to take from one place to the next, right?" he offered.

"Yes." He was so tired. "Much easier."

He wanted to ask why Yugi lived with his grandpa. He wanted to know why Yugi lived there in a shop with him. But that would involve family and family was off limits so he didn't ask.


	3. Mistake

**Disclaimer: I own nothing pertaining to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Note: Story will be updated every Wednesday**

**Warning: TONS of cursing throughout story**

**Chapter Warning: Chapter is rated MA (Mature Adult) for sexual content (lemon), underage drinking, mass confusion and mentions of rape and blackouts due to alcohol consumption**

**Lemon Warning: If you want to skip the lemon, don't read the first part of this chapter**

**Also keep in mind that they are teenagers so they do stupid things...like underage drinking and being stupid because that's what teenagers do. We like to be very stupid. Although, normally not THIS stupid for the most part. I do know people who ARE this stupid as teenagers. (And I say stupid with the deepest of affections.)**

**Lemon Note: I have a friend who does it like the situation mentioned below as in dry and they say it's better like that and completely painless if they're careful. ANYWAYS, yeah, so keep that all in mind. Again, if you want to skip the lemon, skip the first part of the chapter. The lemons actually DO serve a purpose, though, so yeah, I didn't just write it and post it without a reason...**

Chapter III: Mistake

Yami reeked of alcohol and he was swaying slightly to one side, but he looked oddly regal even like this; maybe it was the straight back. Yugi didn't know but he kind of envied the fact that Yami could be piss-faced drunk and still look imposing like this. He took his gaze off the way that Yami's body was leaning to the left and locked eyes with him, mouth opening slightly; Yami's expression was painted with anguish, dark with remorse, and hollow with sorrow.

"My younger cousin got hit by a car and he's in a coma…"

His rich baritone voice was thick and slurred the words at him, all of them coming out of his mouth at once, but there was something about his voice that allowed Yugi to separate them into the sentence they were meant to be.

"Are you okay?"

It wasn't the typical response but the situation was anything but typical. Yami Sennen, one of the "hottest guys in school" according to almost the entire female population of Domino High was drunk in front of him, swaying to one side, and positively _reeked _of alcohol. How many people could claim that the smartest guy in school came to their houses like this?

His head shook for a moment and when Yugi opened his mouth again, suddenly Yami had moved to grab him, their lips pressed together and their tongues moving against each other even as Yami's left leg clumsily pushed the door shut behind him and he lurched backwards when he stepped to lock the door behind him. His grip on Yugi's school jacket was tight and restraining, as if he were scared to let go, and Yugi found that oddly enough, he did not want Yami to stop and the way that Yami's tongue worked against his, despite tasting of the beer or wine he had consumed, may not have been the first kiss he had always expected and far from the person he expected it to be with, but it was not horrible either. Maybe a little clumsy because Yami's tongue seemed confused too, batting at his and then pausing and batting again when Yami seemed to run out of things to do. First the swirling clockwise, encircling his tongue, and then counterclockwise and then reverse and back, pausing several times as if he couldn't remember which way he was going before then, and then he was stroking and batting, trying to get Yugi to play with him back.

But Yugi was horribly inexperienced and he had no idea what he was supposed to do but he needed to breathe too and his head felt a little light from the lack of oxygen; Yami seemed to be lightheaded too because he pulled away and then buried his face in the crook of his neck, panting while Yugi drew in large gulps of air, eyes wide and dazed. Hmm…who was Yami's first kiss?

He didn't get a chance to ask before Yami seemed to have caught his breath and his tongue was back, swirling at a slower pace, alternating between swirls and strokes, batting once and then flipping over to so both undersides of their tongues were pressed together; Yugi blinked in shock. The feel was oddly, sinfully delicious, and the more Yami's tongue flipped and touched his, the more their lips worked against each other's, the more he could taste past the alcohol. Maybe Yami had not drunk nearly as much as he initially thought.

Oh crap. This was the first time Yami had ever drank, wasn't it?

That would mean less beer would get him just as plastered as the world's worst alcoholic when they got their fix.

Yami tasted strange. Beneath the coating of alcohol that was starting to fade the more their tongues danced together, he tasted like ice, water, no…that was mint. He tasted like mint, cool and refreshing like ice or water. That was what Yami tasted like, but there was something else mixed in with that too…

He didn't get a chance to think more on that because Yami pulled away and then looked around, almost confused by his surroundings as he breathed harder and then looked at him. Definitely confusion. "Where are the stairs again?"

Yugi had a moment where he wondered if Yami was going to be sick or if he had to pee and while he couldn't decide which to place his bet on, he still led the way upstairs and to his room, about to gesture him into the bathroom until Yami's mouth hit his again and his muscle was completely in his mouth, swirling clockwise and then counterclockwise and back and forth like he had downstairs. Oh yes, Yami was an awkward creature when he was drunk.

Yugi would have laughed his ass off if Yami wasn't kissing him and if Yami's hands weren't messing with his jacket, pulling him closer even as Yami started moving forward and Yugi backed up. Maybe the kiss was a little awkward but it was not bad. It was actually rather enjoyable aside from the fact that Yami seemed so confused with his movements. And it wasn't as though Yami was rough or forcing himself on him; his tongue was soft in its movements even if it was a little on the fast side.

Yugi didn't push him away even when his knees hit the back of his bed and he fell with Yami between his slightly opened legs. It was strange but Yami's groin pressing against his made his pants tighten. The attention Yami was giving him, the softness of his urgent touches, it was definitely different from the attention he was used to getting; it was much different from the attention that he got from Joey who always tried to change him, from Ushio who was always pointing at how short he was, from Tristan who always had that disinterested expression, and especially from Tea who paid him attention for only short amounts of time.

Yami's groin ground into his, his right hand slid under his tank top and up his stomach, pressing flat against his soft skin; Yugi found that he loved this attention that Yami was giving him. It was so much different from the attention that anyone else gave him and the fact that Yami was willing to give it to him, even if it was a little different from the usual attention that he gave him, it was still right in its own way and Yugi didn't want to fight it; after having Tea flirt with the boy on top of him right in front of him, he had to admit that the attention was soothing, a balm that burned through him like warm flames, perfect in its own right. Not to mention that after being rejected in less-than-direct ways several times, to be paid this much attention, even in a drunken haze or by a male, it was rather fulfilling.

Yugi had never felt wanted like this. Half the time he never felt wanted. He felt like Tea used him to make herself seem more selfless when she protected him from whatever she felt was a threat towards him. He felt like Joey used him as a sidekick. Ushio used him as some kind of mix between a punching bag and an advisor for stupid stuff like the girl he wanted. Tristan was just there; they hung out but they were not close and he was definitely just there half the time for Joey because they grew up together. And then there was Yami, who treated him like a person, was not afraid to fight with him, was willing to pay him attention that was not biased in any way, was seemingly willing to give him almost anything he wanted if he just asked.

Now his erection was pressed and grinding, rubbing against him in a sinfully beautiful way that made his pants tighten to a point that he had only once gotten to while watching Tea dance. Yami's hands were warm, his palm was soft and hesitant almost as if he were waiting for him to give direction; Yami didn't move aside from grinding a little more and then pulling his mouth away to press his face into the crook of his neck. And then Yami asked him something that Yugi would not have expected.

"Is this okay?"

Yugi would be lying if he said that it was not okay; in fact, it was more than okay.

"Y…yeah."

He shouldn't have, but he really expected Yami to start sticking his tongue down his throat and he actually missed the feel of it when Yami didn't return his face to his. Instead, he was overwhelmed by the sensation of Yami kissing up and down his neck, wet butterfly kisses that made his back arch further into the body over him and his legs wrap around his waist in unbidden lust. Every time their erections touched, Yugi felt tremors of excitement course through his entire being.

Yami was confused. His head was swirling with too many emotions. He was scared for his cousin and he was scared that he might hurt Yugi, he was scared because he had no idea what to do sexually and he was beyond scared of the aspect of handing control over to Yugi if they went farther. He was tired of being scared and he was tired of the taste of alcohol in his mouth. His head had this strange humming sensation in the back that was annoying but not painful and he was a little lightheaded from not breathing enough. He was turned on beyond belief and his pants were so tight that he felt like he didn't have enough blood in his head; briefly the idea of the humming in the back of his mind was the reason behind not having enough blood crossed his mind but then it was gone again before he could focus on that at all. He was worried about how he would measure up with whoever else Yugi had slept with and then blind panic exploded in the back of his head at the thought that he was going to fully go through with this.

But still his movements did not stop. Did not slow. Did not once falter.

Yugi started scooting backwards, pulling at Yami's shirt to see if he would follow; for a long moment Yami was confused by the movement and stared at him with that same expression he had worn downstairs. His head was tilted slightly, his eyebrows were furrowed, his eyes narrowed a little, his lips were pulled into a small tight line and when Yugi looked into his gaze, it was predominantly lighter than its usual crimson hue. But then he followed, that same expression growing a little different with each small step he crawled.

Yugi only stopped when his head was against the pillow and Yami was hovering over him, kept in his grip by the legs around his waist; Yugi watched him for a moment and then saw that Yami was lost somewhere in his head, still completely confused and staring at the pillow as if he couldn't figure out where it came from. And for the first time Yugi realized that Yami was wearing the clothes that they had gotten at the mall; a black tank top under a black leather jacket that was wrinkled and shown in the dim lighting of his lamp, a pair of black skinny jeans with a chain on the right pocket, a studded gray-black belt and even the flat-soled Converse sneakers with the black and red designs on them.

Why was Yugi letting this happen? Why was Yami doing this? His head hurt a little too much and the confusion was becoming tenfold, his mind was fuzzy, and coherent thought was making it feel like he was growing cotton between his ears. He shouldn't be doing this; he knew that much. He was never supposed to do something like this. It was immoral, wrong…but then it felt so right and he'd never been this hard in his life. Did alcohol do that? Or was this him? Maybe it was Yugi…?

For a moment Yami didn't move and Yugi was briefly curious if Yami would throw up because he looked terrified and a little green around the edges. But then Yami pulled back a little and started to pull at his jacket, looking confused again when he couldn't get it off of him at this position; Yugi sat up for him and Yami looked satisfied and beyond proud of himself when he pulled it off and then looked around and tossed it onto his desk chair.

Yugi would have laughed at the proud look when his jacket landed in the seat cushion but then felt Yami pulling his shirt off, causing him to straighten his arms when Yami made a growling noise of pure frustration at his lack of cooperation. As soon as the shirt was off, Yami was wetting his lips with his soft moist muscle and Yugi was embarrassingly focused on that pink tongue, unable to look away. Yami must have noticed because before Yugi could say or do anything further, his lips were against his again, warm and soft and moving as Yami's tongue worked against his.

Yugi pushed back, closing his eyes, and Yami let him take over, his tongue stilling and his lips pressed against his just enough for him to feel him but not enough to try to take control again; Yugi briefly thought about copying Yami's kissing technique but pushed the thought away immediately to instead map the top of Yami's mouth with his tongue, earning him a warm moan from the back of his throat. He was so busy working on Yami's mouth that he missed it when Yami's hands snapped the button of his jeans and slid his fingers in to work at his hips.

Yugi squirmed. He had never once been touched around the hips. Yami's touch was warm and light and gossamer but it still made him nervous. When Yami's hands settled into a warm firm yet light grip on his hips, his fingertips pressing a little more firmly than his palms, Yugi felt a tremor go through him again. Yami obviously felt it because his hands left after a moment but not for long when Yugi grabbed them and pressed them against his hips again, reassuring him even as his tongue continued working against his; maybe he was just desperate to lose his virginity.

Maybe that was why he was letting Yami continue instead of pushing him away like he knew he should have. Or maybe it was the attention Yami was feeding him. Or maybe it was the prospect of being wanted. Maybe it was the way Yami tasted despite the alcohol tainting his mouth. Or maybe it was the sensation that this, for whatever reason, felt right in every way. Or maybe he was just wrong in the head…but he did not regret what he was doing. He could find no reason to push Yami away.

Maybe it was just some kind of instant infatuation or the attention was getting to his head but either way, he did not stop him when Yami slid his pants down and pulled away from him to get them completely off, kicking his own shoes off in the process; he looked at them like he couldn't figure out what they were doing there and Yugi could not help the small laugh that escaped his lips. Yami looked confused at the sound but then looked at him and beamed as Yugi started to pull at his jacket, throwing it onto the computer chair with his pants as well. While Yami beamed at him, Yugi continued stripping him down to nothing but his underwear and socks; when he tried to get at Yami's socks Yami swatted his hands away with a comical glare.

Yugi didn't mind the whole aspect of socks being on anyways; he was wearing them too and Yami didn't really look inclined towards taking his off either. Besides, having an article of clothing on was oddly comforting since the rest of him was going to be naked. Yami leaned between his legs again and Yugi felt his erection much stronger than he had before; Yami was a lot larger than he had initially felt with the restraining pants he had been wearing. The boxers did nothing to hide the massive bulge and Yugi found that he was excited as hell by this prospect.

At least if he was going to do this, it wasn't a tiny penis that was going to be inside of him; then again, he had a moment where he wondered if a larger penis would hurt more than a smaller one but pushed this away.

Yami buried his face into the crook of his neck and mumbled a soft, "You okay?" that was slurred but sounded oddly coherent at the same time.

"Mmhmm."

"Want me to stop?"

"No."

Yami ignored the nagging panic that swept through the back of his mind and closed his eyes for a moment, drawing in a breath. "You want to keep going?" This time it was thick with something other than the alcohol consumption, fear taking its place as his undertone.

"Yes."

Yugi didn't get a chance to say anything else because Yami's mouth was back on his and he was over whatever fear that had been in his voice; his left hand was suddenly sliding up his leg and under his boxers but was not touching his erection yet. Yugi waited a single second and then counted in his head, letting the fear of Yami's penis being too big to fit inside of him despite the fact that he was supposed to stretch to accommodate him flow through him before pushing it away again. Yami moved his hand when Yugi didn't object and then gripped at the top of Yugi's boxers, pulling the waistband slightly; Yugi felt nervousness course through him as Yami pulled away from his mouth and started easing his boxers off.

Yugi would have panicked if he didn't see the look on Yami's face. He himself looked scared but he also had this kindness to his eyes that very clearly stated that he was not going to hurt him. Even past the confusion it was very clear in his eyes and Yugi loved it because it was different from the looks that anyone else had ever given him. Even his own parents had never given him that look, not that they were around very often to give it to him, and while his grandpa was the only constant parental figure in his life, he was just as commonly in Egypt as he was in Japan.

Then again, he had never been in a situation where someone would have to give him a look such as this one.

He watched Yami shed his own boxers and swallowed. Yugi himself was not tiny but he was just above average at eight inches and Yami was definitely bigger than that; he bit his lip hard, wetting them a moment later as Yami pulled him a little closer and then looked around in thorough confusion again.

"We'll have to go dry," Yugi muttered, frowning. "I don't have lubricant or lotion. We could just use spit, maybe?"

Yami stared at him as if he had lost his mind for a moment and then murmured, "Blowjob?" in a thick, slurred, confused voice.

"Err…I could try…"

And then Yami ignored it altogether and gently started to touch his anus, his index finger rimming the ring of muscle for a moment and then pressing his finger inside. Yami may have been an awkward drunk. And he may have been clumsy, but he was not unkind and he was not uncaring. As soon as Yugi tensed around his fingertip because of the uncomfortable sensation of it all, he didn't move it. Yugi could not relax for a full minute, nerves getting to him, but Yami also didn't move at all, watching him with a weird expression, a mixture between confusion and concern and sharp intelligence behind the haze of alcohol.

Apparently the beer he had consumed did nothing to impair his judgment outside of this confusion that seemed to have constant residence on his face this entire night. When Yugi relaxed completely again, only then did Yami move his finger further inside of him, sheathing it and pausing for several moments before pumping it slowly in and out of him; it was uncomfortable to the extreme at first and then it started to feel good.

Yugi was still confused about why he was letting this happen. In fact his mind was still trying to catch up with his actions. He was actually doing this and the idea seemed foreign to him. He had imagined his first time to be with Tea, to be with a girl, and yet here was Yami who was far from female with his throbbing erection pressing against his thigh when he moved to get a better angle with his finger.

Yami was confused as to why this was happening as well. He'd never exactly felt anything for anyone else and yet here he was thrusting a finger in and out of Yugi Motou of all people. The school bad boy was beneath the "geek" of the school.

When his second finger entered him Yugi tensed up again and Yami waited the entire time until he relaxed again thirty seconds later; he waited a little longer until he felt that he should move again, and Yugi felt an overwhelming amount of pleasure as Yami's fingers started to touch his prostate. The mewl came out unbidden and confused by the sensation but Yami laughed softly with a small smile at the adorableness of the sound; Yugi swallowed a little and then Yami leaned forward and pressed his lips to his, the mewling making tingles run down the taller boy's spine.

The third finger was noticed but his body didn't try to reject it like it had the other two; instead he welcomed it mentally with a small mewl. The pumping continued and Yugi's tongue continued playing with Yami's inside his mouth. He had to admit that his fingers were somewhat clumsy and sloppy in their actions but they hit his prostate each time and the pleasure made Yugi's stomach coil. Yugi let out a whimper at the loss when Yami's fingers pulled away but then Yugi felt the head of his penis at the entrance and his stomach made a small jumping motion.

This was actually happening…

It was mind boggling that he did not want this to stop and it was more so how much Yami cared, how much attention he was paying to him.

Yami had pulled away, watching him closely as he pushed in a little and every time Yugi tensed Yami stopped; how he was doing this when he was drunk was beyond him but then maybe it was just a testament to the caring nature he had been exposed to every time they were around each other despite the way they fought constantly, the caring nature he had witnessed upon seeing him and Mana and Mahado after school the first day of their project. Yami seated himself six minutes later, both hands falling to brace himself at the sides of Yugi's shoulders, holding himself up and watching him again.

Yugi nearly cracked up when Yami's tongue snaked out the left side of his mouth, curving up and the underside of the muscle deliciously pink and inviting; Yugi furrowed his brows and found that Yami was completely focused now, tongue out and pressed against the skin of his mouth to make this display of concentration even more comical and somehow worrisome. The only thing that kept him from laughing out loud at this look was the single realization that they were going bareback and without lubrication and it was enough to make fear press into his skeletal system.

"W-wait," Yugi stammered, grabbing at his shoulders and watching with wide eyes as Yami stopped and looked at him, thoroughly confused and his tongue still sticking out of the left corner of his mouth, blinking a few times. "A-are you…are you clean?"

Yami blinked once and then again and his tongue somehow remained as it was even around his words as he murmured, "Of course I am. I'm still a virgin" in a singsong voice that made Yugi smile a little and nod to which Yami slowly started moving a little, completely missing it when Yugi admitted, "So am I" under his breath.

He had no rhythm. He was completely, utterly sloppy and Yugi couldn't match his thrusts which were slow but growing in speed for the life of him, finding that it was nearly impossible for him to even know when Yami was pulling out and thrusting in. He didn't pause from hitting his prostate each time however, which was kind of surprising to Yugi because, hell, he couldn't understand how Yami managed to remember it when he was drunk like this.

He had to admit that it was kind of funny in its own weird way. Yami, piss-faced drunk was sloppy as hell, had no rhythm for Yugi to match, was hitting his prostate with the goofiest sex face ever. Tongue out like a concentrated little kid, eyes shaded with focus, his breath coming out in ragged pants as his thrusts grew tenfold in speed, sounding almost like a dog with the speed and heavy breaths that came out of him with his movements. Yugi did not find this to be degrading in the least, however, because he was obviously taking care of him despite it all, because he was making this as enjoyable as possible for him, and the noises he was making mixed in with his mewls of pleasure, were somehow even more stimulating and somewhat comforting.

He wasn't sure how it was comforting but it was. It was the strangest thing in his mind but it was what it was. He guessed it was because Yami was enjoying himself just as much as Yugi was and again Yugi had a moment where the idea that the attention might have been the major factor in all of this. It was new, it was different and Yugi had never been wanted in this way. He'd never even been given a look of lust before Yami had walked into his house.

Most glances at him were scornful for his troublemaking and others were curious as to what the choker around his neck meant. Some were looking at him as if he was too small to be worth anything and he hated the attention that he was given outside of what Yami showed him.

Yami kissed at his neck now, overloading his senses with the overdose of attention that was hitting him. The kisses were heated with his breath as he panted, wet with the small licks of his tongue between his lips, and overwhelming with the affection that hit him with the touches to his neck.

Yugi arched his back into him and Yami panted again without so much as pausing his movements. He was warm against him, his penis was hard and pressed between their bodies due to the movements and Yugi brought a hand up to grab at his shoulders, sinking his nails into his skin. His right hand traveled to his chest and then to his stomach where a pack of six abs rolled beneath his palm, the sensation even more impossibly stimulating.

He felt stupid for not having looked Yami over aside from his penis before they started but he felt that maybe it was better to have it be a surprise like this because it was definitely more fun this way. If he had looked it would have been more of a little display rather than exploration during sex.

Again Yami's mouth was at his neck and Yugi felt a small sting against his flesh when Yami nipped a little too hard to be gentle but not hard enough to actually hurt past the initial moment of his teeth against his soft skin. But it was enough to make the coil in his stomach tighten and then release and his orgasm coated Yami's stomach and his hand and the tightening of the muscles in his ass made Yami come a second later, the release warm in his body.

Yami fell against him a second later, his breathing hard against his neck; he was heavy but not too heavy, still kissing his neck warmly before he pulled away after a few minutes to catch his breath and fall at his side. Yugi was lucky that his bed had been unmade as he and Yami would have been rolling on his comforter otherwise. When Yami settled into his side, it was strange but still proved to show that he cared even if only in the moment; he was pulled closer to the taller boy's body, held firmly in his side with his head taking residence in the crook of his neck again. Yugi had to squirm to get the top of the sheets with his fingertips but when he did, he pulled them over them and Yami was passed out with a mumbled, "Night."

Yugi didn't know if he should repeat the statement and instead closed his eyes and fell asleep with Yami holding him tightly and the single thought that he might be able to get used to it.

* * *

Yami woke up to a strange raw throbbing in the back of his head and a mouth as dry as cotton and tasting disgusting. His face was pressed against something smooth and warm that kept going up and down and there was a soft noise somewhere above his head every time it fell back down again. He stirred and then froze when he realized who it was he was sleeping next to.

Panic spread through his entire system. Yugi, this was Yugi…

He breathed hard for a few long minutes and then looked around. Maybe he was a little fuzzy on the details, but he knew that he had in fact been inside of the smaller teen, that they'd made out, and his heart twisted in pain. He was in so much trouble. He was in trouble…

That throbbing was growing a little, irking him. Yami didn't need a throbbing head while he was still reeling from the panic that had settled into this system upon awakening. He was in so much trouble and he couldn't even think properly with that steady pulse of pain. He rolled away from him and looked around. His clothes were on the computer chair and that wasn't too far from where he was. He thanked all the gods he knew of and then started out towards them; the next thing he knew he had a sharp pain in the back of his already aching head, he was on the ground on his hands and knees hissing with pain, and then he was staring at the nightstand that harmed his already hurt head. In any other situation he would have called himself out on his own stupidity for glaring at it, but then he realized that Yugi might be awake and spun around.

Yugi had not moved an inch and he was breathing rather evenly. So he wasn't awake yet.

Yami let out a relieved breath and then slowly got to his feet, rubbing at the wound from the nightstand and trying to prevent making the throbbing even worse. Yami was, in every way possible, with no means of lessening the blow, disgusted with himself. His fingers trembled as he pulled his shirt on, grimacing at the dried substance on his stomach and shaking his head; he would have to deal with it as soon as he got home.

Disgust and terror were a dangerous combination. His chest twisted with it. His blood was tainted with it. How had he lost himself so completely? How had he been so stupid? First he got plastered, then he went to Yugi's home and apparently he fucked him.

The disgust just grew.

First of all, he should never have touched the fucking beer. He should never have gotten his old ID out that falsely stated he was twenty-one. He should never have decided it was a good idea to put to use the clothing he had bought from the mall. He should never have tricked that poor bartender into thinking he was of age. He should never have ordered such hard liquor in the first place. Fuck, the vodka had burned his throat until it rested in his stomach and scorched his entire system from the inside out.

Second, he should never have chosen to come to Yugi's home of all places. There was the threat of his grandfather having answered the door. There was the fact that he had completely and irresponsibly thrown himself at Yugi when both of them were straight and this should not have happened. There was the possibility of being seen, recognized. And there was the idea that he had fucked Yugi, that he had most likely forced him…

Third, there was the factor of shame. His family…oh his family was going to kill him if he didn't kill himself first. And how could he have possibly fucked up so horribly? How could he have gone to Yugi and not someone like Mana or _Mai, _who practically screamed of sex with just her very presence? And what did that say about him? It clearly meant he was the disgusting creature that his father had always hated.

And then of course, that was even more shame thrown at him, marring his family if this ever got out. And what about at school? Yugi could claim he was raped—if Yami did rape him, he wasn't sure because his head hurt too much to think of this—and then what? So many different things could happen, so many different things could quite possibly destroy him and it was all because he picked up that stupid ID card.

All because of _one _little phone call.

Yami struggled with his shoes, his hands shaking and his head throbbing even more now that he was reprimanding himself. And what would this do to Yugi exactly? If he raped him, how badly would that impact him? Would he get past it? Would he drown in it? Let it rule his life?

He didn't think he could live with himself if he had truly forced himself on Yugi. If he had raped him… If his memories actually came back and he raped him…

A tremor passed through his system and left him cold with panic and fear, an overwhelming sense of disgust he could not shake.

What did it mean that he would rather seek male company than female while he was drunk? Did it mean anything? But then, what did it mean if he had raped him?

That single word kept repeating in an endless loop.

_Rape, rape, rape…_

His blood began to pound in his ears and he felt his throat close in terror. What would he do if he had? And did you really sleep in the same room as someone who had raped you, let them hold you in your sleep? He trembled and tied his right shoe laces before shooting upright and staggering backwards from the pain that coursed through his head.

Blood, alcohol, rape…

Blood, alcohol, rape…

Yami fled.

And Yugi sat upright and groaned into his hands, shaking his head. Last night had been a mistake. That was all it was. Yami was supposed to get with Tea so at least one of them in this unrequited love would be happy. Yugi would get over her and the fact that the biggest geek in school had stolen her away.

All he had wanted was attention. He had craved it and he had succumbed to it and now this was the result. A boy who fled his room as if his ass were on fire, clear memory of the night that Yami might never fully remember, and the deep unsettling sensation of the fact that he was in fact a true slut for attention, that he would bend for it if offered the right amount.

He should have said no. He should have pushed him away. He should have let his first time actually mean something. He should have turned a blind eye at the attention Yami had shown him in his drunken stupor.

"This was a mistake."

Attention got him here. Attention shattered every reality he had about himself. And now he didn't know how to pick up the pieces.

* * *

Somehow, through all the awkwardness of the last week of the project, the two of them managed to finish it. They didn't mention what happened and their conversations were strictly project-based. And in the midst of it all, Yugi managed to convince himself that he was just making sure that Yami stayed safe because he was drunk and that was what you did when someone showed up at your house drunk.

You took care of them. You made sure they didn't throw up in their sleep. You let them do what they needed to in order to sleep. You let them do this because that was what you had to do.

And Yami told himself that it was just the depression, just that stream of emotions that pulled him down. It was the news of Mokuba getting hit by the car. It was that which led to the alcohol. The alcohol mixed with his depression and made a milkshake of disgusting actions.

Both of them were straight. They were not gay.

* * *

"All right, let's see what you two have," the teacher announced, looking at them.

Yami didn't let the awkward and very obvious tension between them unsettle this. Instead he took his place at his side and read off the slides that he knew to while Yugi read off his own, the two of them picking up immediately where the other left off and avoiding looking at each other the entire time.

When they finally finished, the class was clapping and the teacher was watching them as they headed back to their seats across the room. He didn't comment on how they acted. Instead he merely said, "Congratulations, you two. You have the highest grade so far."

He didn't read it out so that meant it was either a ninety-seven or somewhere higher. Yami didn't ask because he didn't care. Yugi didn't ask because he was too busy listening to people around him whispering, "That's because Yami did all the work" in low voices just loud enough for him to hear.

He would have told them to fuck off but he didn't have the energy. He had used it all just forcing himself to stand next to Yami the entire time instead of fleeing. Besides, what right did they have to say anything about him? None of them knew him at all. Hell, his _friends _didn't even know him.

At lunch three days later the twins were immediately onto him.

"You're acting weird," Mana reported with a smirk.

"Are you okay?"

Yami smirked at them. "Maybe I've hit puberty a second time," he replied in a serious voice; he might as well have, with the awkwardness that seemed to suffocate him. And he was always on his toes, alert with fear at the idea that the haze in his head might just clear and he'd find that he had indeed raped Yugi Motou…

Both of them snickered and a strange hyena laugh escaped Mana, causing both of them to look at her and then burst out laughing at her blushing face.

"You never hit it in the first place," the blonde decided, wrinkling her nose at him indignantly because of his display of immaturity. Mahado chuckled and Yami rolled his eyes before shifting his position uncomfortably, leaning forward with his elbows on the table and his jaw in his hands.

Someone was watching him. They were practically boring holes into his flesh with the stares he was receiving.

"Please, you know I'm number one on your hottest voice in school list," Yami replied dryly. "Not to mention you got a vote from the rest of the girls in school and they all agreed with you so of course I hit puberty or you guys wouldn't like my voice as much, right?"

She blushed and then she was laughing as she nodded, saying, "That's true. If you had a high-pitched voice we couldn't really put you on that list."

Mahado cut into their teasing with a frown. "Hey, Yugi Motou is staring at you again."

Yami looked at his tray and didn't lift his eyes, pretending to do homework after a few minutes; Yugi was in fact staring at him, eyes narrowed slightly in frustration and a small, barely noticeable scowl forming on his adorable face. He watched as his "bedmate" got up after a moment and dumped his uneaten tray into the trash and he saw when Yami's eyes flickered over and his body went tense before he sat back down in his seat.

Yami's tense posture did not change. Instead, at some point, Yugi found himself staring at ashen white knuckles gripping the table, blocked from view of the twins by his textbook. So he was making Yami nervous with his staring; maybe he should have felt bad but he couldn't find it in himself to care. What was this? What was this bullshit about him getting plastered and Yugi letting him fuck him?

Why hadn't he stopped himself? Was the attention really worth that?

Maybe it had been in the moment but it definitely wasn't now.

Which was definitely not a new thing for Yugi.

Half the things he did when he wanted attention served their purpose but also made him feel like shit afterwards. Now was exactly one of those times. He hadn't really thought about the awkwardness that would ensue after they did so because it never really crossed his mind. And he never once considered the fact that their fragile, barely-formed friendship falling so completely would affect him in any way.

However, the fact that he had crossed one of his own lines to get that attention was disgusting. He had always said that he would never let the attention go further than common things. Sleeping with someone else because they showed him a little attention was far from common and it was sickening.

His own standards had been lowered, shattered. And there was no way to fix it because it had already happened and it wasn't as if he could go back in time and stop himself. It had already happened and now he was struggling to comprehend it. To truly comprehend the meaning of his own actions.

Was he truly so stupid as to _sleep_ with someone for a little attention?

He had never done it before. Not once in his life. In fact, he never once even flirted with someone aside from Tea for attention, and that was because she was his crush so he felt that it was okay to do so. Letting Yami fuck him? Not so much.

Maybe there was something he was overlooking in his need to understand, but he couldn't think of anything. Yami meant nothing to him. He was the geek who fought with him and wasn't afraid of his temper, who treated him like an actual person.

Was that it? _Could _that be it?

The attention was different, came from a source that he had never imagined. From someone who treated him as something more than some kid who was desperate for attention.

He was really starting to hate himself because, by all means, this never should have happened. He had always had standards, lines that he had always refused to cross, and now…

"Dude, why are you staring at him?" Joey asked, nudging his shoulder with his elbow. Yugi didn't look away. "Seriously, man, what's so interesting? Did the asshole do something to you? Do we need to beat his ass?"

"No, I think he's admiring his clothes," Tristan said with a smirk. "Wishing he was taller."

"I'd rather wear a garbage bag," Yugi laughed spitefully.

"You shouldn't judge him because of what he wears outside of school," Tea cut in, making Yugi look over at her; she was giving him a disapproving look and he wanted to knock it off her face. "There's more to life than appearances."

For the first time in his life, Yugi wished she would shut the fuck up.


	4. Naivety

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Note: Story will be updated every Wednesday**

**Warning: TONS of cursing throughout story**

**Chapter Warning: Chapter is rated MA (Mature Adult) for sexual content (lemon)**

**Lemon Warning: If you want to skip the lemon, don't read...actually, just skip this chapter because the whole thing is a lemon, which I did not notice until I was editing it again. Wow...Um, actually, you could probably just skim through and get the conversations if you wanted...oh, and the last part. The third part isn't a lemon.**

**Lemon Note: The lemons actually DO serve a purpose, though, so yeah, I didn't just write it and post it without a reason...**

Chapter IV: Naivety

One month later found Yugi staring at the teacher as if he had grown two extra heads while Yami looked like he was about to throw up. Again, he had partnered them for a project. Again, Sennen and Motou.

"Wait, what? You gave everyone else completely different partners," Yugi protested, making Yami look at him with wide eyes and the teacher stare in surprise. "So why would you partner us up again? That doesn't make any sense!"

"This is the first time you've gotten a good grade in my class and you did the best in this class when you were partnered together. Why would I change partners for you two when you need all the help you can get?"

The rest of the class started laughing and Yugi glared at the teacher as rage made his blood boil; when he looked at Yami the red-eyed teen was staring at the teacher with narrowed eyes.

"Actually, he got a higher grade than me on our last test," he said quietly, his voice carrying and somehow making the rest of the class go silent. "So, in all actuality, partnering us up together is prohibiting the rest of the class, not adding anything to our grades."

Yugi gave him a sharp look. He didn't need help convincing this idiot to give him a new partner. And he didn't _ask _for his help with it anyways.

"Well then, I guess it's best to put the two over achievers together for another project so that everyone else is graded on their own efforts, right?"

Yami narrowed his eyes further. "You're making the mistake of assuming that I did all the work and that's not true. Yugi did his half and I did mine. So why are we being partnered a second time if that's the case?"

"You work well together."

"I can work with anyone just as well as I can work with him."

"Yes, but Mr. Motou might not do the same."

"So in other words you are unjustly making me baby-sit him in order to make sure that he gets a good grade as well."

"I am not changing your partners," the teacher said through his teeth, annoyed. "Deal with it amongst yourselves."

"Unless, of course, you're really just trying to make sure that we don't bring up someone _else's _scores because you separated us. Because, surely, having the two smartest kids in the class doing their project together a second time is not coincidence. And it's not like we're going to learn anything from this—"

"Enough, Mr. Sennen. Get to work."

Yami's jaw clenched and for a moment his expression was twisted, murderous, gaze gleaming with bloodlust, but then his face was completely smooth again and he was instead rolling his eyes and looking at the rubric. Yugi didn't want to move across the class again but when he found that Yami refused to look up, he finally went over and took the seat directly in front of him again, turning around to look at him.

Yami finally looked up and his entire expression was guarded. There was no leak of emotion in the deep red irises.

Perhaps Yami had _let _him see his emotions before. And now he was just proving that he had full control over himself. That he could shield himself with no effort.

Again, Yugi envied that.

Yami didn't speak for a long time and then he looked down and murmured, "It's your turn to choose what the topic will be" in a bored voice.

Yugi looked at the list and stated, "Egypt."

Yami froze for a millisecond and then nodded a little and looked at the clock. Still another half hour before they got out.

The rest of the period was spent in silence, Yugi drumming his fingers on his desk while Yami went about circling his weak points on his rubric again, looking at the paper with that same emotionless barrier to his face while his insides twisted.

They had been avoiding each other well, Yami even taking a completely different route to class after they had accidentally bumped into each other in the hallway when he hadn't been looking where he was going; when the two had collided, both of them had hit the ground but only Yugi had gotten up immediately, Yami instead opting for staring in complete shock for a second while the smaller boy looked at him in annoyance that shifted slowly into confusion and eventually concern. When he had opened his mouth to ask if he was okay, however, it was Joey's voice that came out, snickering that Yami _should _be at his feet like that while Yami snarled that he should be put down like a dog which had broken them out into a shoving contest that Ushio had burst out laughing at and Yugi interrupted only when he saw that Yami was getting desperate to get out of there because of the close proximity to the smaller boy.

That was the only time they had interacted since that night and since that incident Yami had even started taking a much longer route to class that got him there only seconds before the bell rang which always earned him a surprised look from the teacher.

In all honesty, Yugi suspected it was the teacher wanting this awkward tension between them—Yami arriving almost late to class and fleeing as soon as the bell rang—to be finished. And he couldn't agree more. He was tired of it. He had never had someone actively avoiding him like this and it irritated him to no end. And there was never anything he could say to stop the red-eyed teen because he moved far too fast and even if he caught up with him there was no way he would talk to him.

As the bell rang Yami did not immediately jump up and Yugi did not either, the red-eyed teen moving more slowly because Yugi didn't at least _seem _mad and Yugi because there was no reason for him to run when Yami didn't seem to have one either. He also had the chance to cut off any escape Yami attempted being in front of him, but he didn't need to anyways because the taller boy didn't seem like he was going to run just yet.

"Same schedule?" Yugi said, turning to him as they walked out of class.

Yami blinked and then looked at him. "Is that _really _such a good idea, Yugi?"

"Why not? It's another month-long project. No, actually it's _two_ months and it's three times the grade the other was. If we did so well the first time, it's best to stick to the schedule we already had going for us, right?"

"That's assuming that we actually do work together on this."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean to say that if we do work together, we are just proving the teacher right about us being a good team and then we will never get rid of being partnered together."

"We could have fucked up the first time but I'm not fucking it up this time," Yugi spat angrily, glaring. "This is forty-five percent of our grade and I'm not about to fail it. I refuse to have my ass handed to me because we can't deal with whatever the fuck it was that happened the first time."

Rape? Rape? Was it rape?

"Very well," Yami finally relented, unable to turn off the revolting cycle of that single word, that single question, revolving in his head. "Library after school then?"

"Can't…"

"What?"

"Can you come over?" His binder nearly fell out of his hand and he blinked a few times, staring at him in pure shock but Yugi barely even blinked at his sudden reaction. "I have things to do at home and I can't bother with the library today. Now yes or no?"

Yami hesitated, a split second of indecision, and then finally murmured, "Yes. All right. I can be there. Right after school?"

He debated it for a moment and then nodded. "Yeah, right after school."

Yami met him outside at the doors, Mana and Mahado already walking away because he didn't want them to witness the awkwardness that he had a feeling would ensue again. Yugi pulled his bad boy persona instead of greeting him, giving him a single glance and then walking past him without a word.

Any other situation, anyone else, and Yami would have snarled at them to turn around and then possibly decked them. But because it was Yugi, because of what he might have done, it felt oddly right, like Yugi was putting him in his place and that felt a hell of a lot better than if he had greeted him kindly, tried to catch up on things.

When they got there, the first thing Yami noticed was that Yugi did not call out a greeting. Instead he turned around and flipped the sign on the door over to say Open to anyone walking by. And then they spent the next two hours behind the counter, Yugi dealing with the occasional customer and working with Yami on the project at the same time, occasionally pointing out information they should copy down.

Yami still did not ask about his grandfather. Because family was off limits in terms of conversation as they had stated in the library during their first project. And besides, it was not like he deserved any answers anyways.

"Okay, come on," Yugi announced, getting up and flipping the sign again. Yami blinked when Yugi headed upstairs and it took him a minute to make his legs move to follow him, hesitating at the bottom of the stairs and then finally making himself move again.

Instead of the bedroom Yugi took him into the living room and sat on the end of the couch, using the armrest as a brace for the textbook he had perched against it, writing in his notebook. When Yami took his seat at the opposite end of the couch, it definitely proved difficult. They could not compare notes and so they had no idea if they were writing the same thing, which was what finally made Yugi lose his temper.

"Fucking—damn it, Yami, I'm not going to fucking bite you," Yugi spat angrily, startling the red-eyed teen who's head snapped around to stare at him in pure shock. "You don't have to sit on the other side of the stupid couch. I can't even read what you're writing if you're all the way over there. So just fucking move over here."

It took a minute and Yugi was about to just jump the space between them when Yami finally moved, inching towards him and then getting just close enough that Yugi could read what he was writing without straining his eyes or neck.

Yugi wondered if he remembered what happened. If he remembered it correctly. He wasn't really thinking when he leaned over and pressed his lips into Yami's. The surprise was obvious because Yami's body tensed, his pencil fell onto the floor, and Yugi pushed at his lips but Yami didn't respond at all no matter the force he put behind his mouth.

He wasn't sure what made him do it. Maybe it was the lack of attention Yami paid him. Maybe he was just desperate for some kind of connection with another person again, that sickening part of him that had grown almost attached to the idea of sleeping with another person despite the fact that it had only happened once. Or maybe he just got tired of the awkwardness. Maybe he wanted to taste him again, feel his lips moving against his, feel their tongues stroking against each other. Maybe he just got tired of writing. Maybe the project couldn't quite hold his interest. Or maybe he was just curious to see how Yami would respond to this now, with a clear head.

When he pulled back, Yami's red eyes were still perfectly wide, mouth open slightly in a small "o" shape, his body still rigid with the surprise of his action, and then Yugi took note that the taller teen wasn't breathing. It was like he had frozen completely for that single kiss.

And then Yami was back again, blinking once and then twice and leaning over to grab his pencil off the floor. It frustrated the hell out of him, and that was definitely what motivated his next actions. When Yami pulled back and was about to write, to act as if nothing happened, his lips crashed against his again and when Yami didn't react right away, he pulled away just enough to snarl, "You frustrate me so fucking much."

Yami's voice was small, soft, nearly inaudible. "Why?"

It wasn't about his statement. Or maybe it was the smallest bit. But mostly it was towards himself. Why did he like this? Why did it not feel wrong? Why did he actually like the idea of Yugi kissing him despite his father, despite his mother, despite the consequences? Why did he let this go on? Why did Yugi think this was a good idea? Why did _he _think this was a good idea? Why did his pants tighten the smallest bit? Why did his body seize up in shock but relax as if it were totally normal, as if he shouldn't punch Yugi in the face like he would have done only months ago?

Did his mistake go so far as to dig into his judgment, cloud it and make this seem right? Or maybe the only mistake here…was him.

"You just do," Yugi growled back, reaching over and grabbing at Yami's school uniform jacket; Yami didn't fight him this time and he was not passive either. When his lips pressed to his again, Yami's mouth moved against his almost immediately and then he was pushing him back slightly with the movement.

It was so wrong. Logic told him it was wrong. Years of being a Sennen taught him it was wrong. Years of being exposed to his father taught him it was wrong. His entire body rejected this, however, and told him it was right.

In that moment, in that kiss, it was all right. Everything about it. Everything happening. It was all right. It was not wrong. There was nothing wrong with it.

How right his body claimed it was. His pants were tightening significantly now. His mind was falling into a frenzied lust that blocked out all doubts. And his fingers were trying to grip at Yugi's skin, his flesh, trying to feel him against him.

He wanted closer. He wanted Yugi closer. He wanted him to make the sounds that he remembered from that night despite the fact that most of it was a complete black picture no matter how many times he tried to recall it.

And now he was completely sober and this was happening. He was pushing Yugi back into the couch and he was knocking their work so far on the ground. His hands were gripping at the jacket and forcing Yugi to remain as close as possible to him without actually touching aside from their lips.

Yugi twisted a little and he drew his legs up onto the couch without once breaking the kiss, though he did end up kneeing Yami's torso on accident, surprised that it did nothing to phase the red-eyed teen in the least.

Maybe Yami was just as desperate as he was for that feeling of being attached to someone else as he was. Maybe even if he couldn't remember everything, maybe he remembered the feeling of it, that strange comforting sensation and the idea of being held close for once instead of pushed away.

When they finally did break away again, they were panting and Yami looked terribly confused but also excited and more than a little curious. His tongue ran over his lips and then drew them between his teeth and the red eyes closed as he mulled this over.

It couldn't be wrong if it felt so right…right?

But his dad called it disgusting and unnatural, impure. That was what his father called these things and it terrified him to no end to think of what his father would say. He would be announced a freak of nature in his eyes…

But that thought, for whatever reason, was not strong enough to push away his desire. It was not strong enough to fight off the haze that was entering his mind. It was not strong enough to make him _want _to stop.

And because he didn't want to stop, he kept going.

His lips pressed against Yugi's firmly and his grip on his jacket changed, his right hand pulling away to slide over the flesh of his stomach, up his torso and then press against the left half of his ribcage. Yugi's heart was pounding beneath the palm of his hand. It was dancing, fluttering in its rhythm. It was so oddly comforting to Yami that it spurred him on further.

He pinched him and Yugi yelped against his lips, Yami swallowing the sound as his tongue immediately slipped into his mouth. Yugi recognized the taste of him now. He tasted of mint and of something like dark chocolate and the combination—while he normally preferred milk or white over dark—made him moan in pleasure. Yami devoured this sound greedily, running his tongue over Yugi's immediately, stroking softly and ignoring the hesitance in the back of his mind.

He still didn't remember everything. He couldn't remember what Yugi tasted like because he was overwhelmed by his own alcoholic breath. He could not remember what he had done to kiss him, only that he had. He could not remember if Yugi had pushed him away, only that he had forced himself onto the smaller teen. He couldn't remember if he hurt him or if he prepped him or if he even used lubrication or if he had worn a condom…

Fuck, there were too many blank areas in his memories, too many black spots that left him confused and horrified, fearing the worst of himself.

He _did _however remember that it was _him _who ran and not Yugi. He was aware of how much of a coward he was. He was aware of the fact that he woke up with his head against Yugi's chest. Which meant he hadn't pushed him away afterwards, but that also could have just been because he was too tired to do so. He didn't know and he hated that.

But he used his tongue like he thought it should be used. Stroking, sliding beneath his, pressing over and under, mapping the inside of his mouth, running over the smooth backs of his teeth, gently gliding over his in a show of handing over dominance.

Yugi did not waste time. His tongue stroked and rubbed along the underside of his. It slid along the sides and pressed flat against the roof of his mouth. He stroked at his teeth, at the smooth skin of the ridges of his palate. He even nudged at his cheeks with the pink muscle. And while Yami found it to be weird since he had never thought cheeks to be part of kissing before, Yugi merely found it funny that his cheeks were not as smooth as the underside of his tongue, as his lower jaw.

Yugi finally pulled back to breathe and both of them panted for air, staring at each other; he found he was just as confused as the red-eyed teen. Why did this feel good? Why did he want more? Why did Yami make him feel good? Was it the attention or something else? Why was he practically begging Yami to fuck him again without words? Why had he kissed him in the first place and why was he still going with it?

Did this make him any less of the person he was before? Because he wanted Yami's penis inside of him that instant and he felt no shame or guilt for admitting that to himself? Should he feel ashamed? Or disgusted? Guilty for wanting this when his crush who he was just _beginning _to get over had craved this for two long years when he had not even wanted it since the day it happened?

Yami was completely sober and doing this so did that make him any less of who he was? Because it was obvious by the tightening of his pants, by the erection that Yugi could see, that he wanted this and he wanted it just as much as Yugi did—if not more.

But then maybe comparing the seme to the uke was not justifiable? He was smaller and he wanted Yami inside of him, which was definitely something that no guy was ever supposed to admit to as far as he knew. Plus, Yami was on top of him and he was doing what all guys did—fucking. He was the one who moved in and out and thrust. Yugi was the recipient and he laid on his back with his legs open like some kind of girl on prom night. So maybe it wasn't justifiable to compare their two roles like this?

And what did that say about him anyways? That he wanted Yami fucking him rather than him wanting to fuck some girl or Yami himself? Did that make him weaker than Yami? Or maybe that made him stronger because he was the one overcoming the uncomfortable sensation of a penis being inside of him while Yami was just moving around?

His head hurt with the thoughts and he was very glad for the distraction when Yami started kissing him again, obviously having caught his breath without Yugi's notice. The hand under his shirt, resting over his heart, pulled away slightly so that only his fingertips were on his flesh, and then his fingers were pinching at his nipple and Yugi moaned at the unfamiliar sensation, releasing his jacket to grab at his shoulder, digging his nails into the fabric and pressing into Yami's flesh. His lips yielded when Yugi pushed into them again, somewhat mesmerized by the softness they possessed. He wondered if kissing Tea would have been like this or different. Her lips were bigger than Yami's but they were also almost always painted with lip gloss that was flavored like strawberry or maybe piña colada or sometimes raspberry.

Guilt tore at his stomach. This was Yami. Yami was Tea's crush. For two years he had heard her mention him, sometimes in passing and sometimes just throwing him out there so that she could talk to him about him. He remembered one of her fantasies where he had chained her to the bed or vice versa and they were going at it relentlessly and he'd nearly thrown up in the middle of that story.

The red-eyed male recoiled and stared at him in shock, eyes wide and lips swollen from their kissing, eyebrows high up and face looking slightly flushed. Yugi stared back for a moment, confused, and then blushed furiously. He had just gagged into Yami's mouth. What the fuck?

"Ignore that."

"Are you sick?"

"No, just…thinking about something really disgusting."

"…While we're making out?"

"It was an accident."

Yami didn't respond immediately, wrinkling his nose and staring at him curiously for a long moment, and then Yugi rolled his eyes and pressed their lips back together, pinching his hip and making him gasp when Yami's mouth didn't open immediately for him. Impatience was something that came in abundance with Yugi when it pertained to things he wanted. He had endless patience when it came to other people but he had a stunning amount of impatience when it came to things and sex was something that he really wanted at this moment.

He started pulling at Yami's jacket, stripping him of it in a matter of seconds and then pulling back to take the white shirt off, tossing it onto the couch next to him. Yami didn't object and he didn't understand why, but he let it keep going. The taller chewed his cheek and stared at him. "On your couch?"

"Does it matter where?"

"I thought sex was only for the bedroom…"

Yugi barely heard him and he was about to burst out laughing until he saw the nervous expression on Yami's face. As far as he knew, though, sex happened pretty much anywhere, but he really liked to think that the bedroom was where sex _should_ happen. In all actuality, to laugh at him would be hypocritical and more than messed up. So instead of laughing he smiled a little and nodded slightly. "Uh, yeah, but…either works."

Yami stared at him for a moment and then seemed to be drawn back into the situation again, pressing their lips together again. _Bedroom versus living room_. Yami killed off the thought as he stripped Yugi of his own jacket and shirt. For a few long minutes they just kept their lips together, shirtless and growing breathless by the second, their tongues still working in their mouths, losing themselves to the lust again.

Still, neither of them understood the emotion. Especially when they were both straight and yet they were tongue-tied, lip-locked and half-naked. They were both completely sober and yet they actually _wanted _to have sex.

The irony, the confusion, was not lost on them.

Yugi moved his hands from his shoulders to undo the buckle on Yami's belt, pulling it through the loops of his pants and then unbuttoning and unzipping them; Yami was frozen for a moment but then pulled away to let Yugi slide them down as far as he could without him getting up. When he got up and Yugi pulled his pants and underwear down at once, his breath caught slightly at his erection's exposure to the air but he barely got to focus on this before Yugi suddenly pushed him over as soon as he sat back down again, making his head hit the armrest with a small look of shock, eyes widening. Yugi kept him on his back, pinned against the armrest, undoing his own pants and pulling them off to drop them on the floor with Yami's.

Only then did Yugi pull them back into their former position. Yami was stretched out over him, Yugi beneath him, their lips still locked together. The only pause in their kiss during the entire transition had been when Yugi had pulled his tongue back after pushing Yami's own back into his mouth in order to fall back against the cushions again. It had been strange and had left Yami confused, but it had worked.

"Condoms?"

"Nope."

"What?"

"Seriously Yami?"

The red-eyed teen pulled away and stared at him, swallowing hard. "You don't have any condoms?"

"Fuck, you're a real bitch when you're sober, huh?"

"We…didn't use a condom the first time?"

"Nope."

"But you weren't even a virgin! Who the hell did you hook up with before?"

Yugi decided it wasn't worth admitting that he was a virgin before their little drunk hookup so instead he snorted, "It doesn't matter. I'm clean and so are you. Now come on."

"Lube?"

"Oh for fuck's sake."

"You mean we had sex _dry_?" he cried, eyes wide. Wasn't that supposed to hurt beyond belief? Yami choked on his own breath. Not only could he have possibly raped Yugi, but he'd done it _dry_. Ra, he should have fought harder for a change of partner if that was the case. Who knew how badly he had hurt him the first time.

"So what?"

It took Yugi a moment to realize that Yami had suddenly stopped moving altogether. His lips no longer pushed against his. His fingers no longer moved whatsoever and he was frozen. Yugi looked up in irritation, pure impatience pissing him off brutally with the fact that Yami was no longer moving. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" he spat, startling him violently and making him look at him in shock; Yami's mouth opened and closed twice and then his jaw just clamped shut and he looked like a deer in headlights.

Yugi lost all semblance of patience and snarled, "Damn it, Yami" before wrapping his legs around his waist; Yami started to pull away but couldn't move fast enough to avoid Yugi impaling himself on him. Both of them froze, Yugi in pain as his entire backside erupted in it from his movements and Yami out of fear upon seeing his face twist in horrible pain.

And then he was glaring and Yugi opened his eyes to a pair of blazing red orbs. "If you hadn't frozen up I wouldn't have done that," he snapped at him only to have the glare intensify with frustration towards the smaller teen.

"You have no fucking idea—"

"Just move it, damn it."

It pissed him off royally and while Yami knew he should have just pushed Yugi away, gotten dressed again, and left, he couldn't find it in himself to do these things. It was not that Yugi turned him on with this furious impatience he displayed, it was not that he was not pissed off by this, and it was not that he didn't think that it was wrong to do this, but he eventually gave in to some strange deep-rooted longing in the back of his mind that made him start moving.

He was blind as to where the smaller teen's prostate was so he tried several different angles but didn't find it even then; Yugi was confused by the sloppy work and then realized after a moment that of course he wasn't hitting his prostate this time because he didn't know where the hell it was. That frustrated him but it was his own fault so he let it die without verbal acknowledgment.

His ass burned as Yami continued moving but it was starting to dull with the careful actions. After a full three minutes of trying to find his prostate, trying different angles, pushing himself as deep as he could go inside of the smaller teen, he gave up. Instead he just started moving.

His movements weren't slow and Yugi found the burning, even dull as it was, was rather interesting with the small waves of pleasure that it gave him due to Yami's thrusts. He actually had a rhythm this time, which, for whatever reason, excited the smaller teen to no end. He matched him thrust for thrust while Yami occasionally just slightly changed his direction in order to get at his prostate, missing every time but never once losing his speed.

Yugi didn't expect him to be the best lay ever but he was a little disappointed with the fact that his prostate was being horribly, impossibly missed. When Yami slammed into it very suddenly, frustrated at himself with his own inability to please him, Yugi let out a yowl of a moan, his back arching and their torsos pressing against each other. His hands grasped at Yami's shoulders, his nails sinking into his flesh and Yami didn't look too pleased with the pain there but he still didn't falter with his movements and Yugi mewled when Yami started thrusting into his prostate.

He didn't ram into it as he had the first time, because he knew where it was now so there was no need to do so, but Yugi had to admit he was glad for this because this speed was more manageable than if he went with the harsh thrust that he had portrayed only minutes before.

Yugi continued moaning and mewling for another thirty minutes while Yami continued, his legs wrapping around his waist and pushing his heels to dig Yami into him even deeper than before. Yugi couldn't complain about the speed in which they moved together, because now that the burning was gone from his impalement, Yami's movements were soothing and pleasurable and his stomach coiled with the sensation. His body tensed when Yami finally started to cease his movements, breaking sync with him at the same time that he failed to be able to push Yami further.

He came before Yami did, digging his nails into Yami who snarled at him from the pain when his nails broke skin; his muscles tightening around him made Yami's own orgasm happen. It was warm and made Yugi's senses tingle with the sensation. It was much better than it had been when Yami was drunk because Yami lasted longer and this time he didn't collapse on him.

He had to admit Yami was pretty heavy, so when he kept his weight off him easily, pulling out of him and laying against the backrest with a tired expression, Yugi was relieved to be able to catch his breath without Yami's added weight. He snuggled into his side, however, pressing into him and feeling much better that Yami didn't try to pull away; for whatever reason, he felt good to know that Yami did not object to his wanting to be closer to him. Then again, he thought with a small grin, Yami was the one who had snuggled with him the first time, not Yugi.

It took Yami exactly three minutes to realize that Yugi had fixed their little fragile bond or whatever it was that they had the exact same way he himself had broken it. He had actually managed to clear the air in the exact way that it had become tainted in the first place. It was amazing…but sickening at the same time.

* * *

In the middle of the night, Yugi got hungry, cold from the lack of covering, and he strained his eyes to look at the clock before glancing at Yami. Yami's face was buried in his neck and for whatever reason, one arm was loosely draped over his stomach, while the other was stretched out over the armrest that supported their heads. Yugi would have snuggled back into him, because the body heat that Yami was giving off was great, but then his stomach growled again and he got up instead.

Yami moved weakly behind him, pulling away his arm and snuggling into himself without opening his eyes; Yugi smiled a little, shaking his head, and walked into the kitchen. He was just lucky that his grandpa was going to be out for another three weeks for that expedition.

One peanut butter and jelly sandwich later found him sitting at the table, staring at an empty plate and wide awake due to exposure to the light from the kitchen. He thought about video games and which to play in order to help him fall back asleep, but the possibility of waking up Yami made him hesitate. Until, finally, he got up and headed back over to the couch.

"Yami."

The red eyes opened into slits that he could barely see through, his eyelashes dark and cutting into his vision slightly; when he didn't speak, Yugi got onto the couch in front of him and tipped his head up, pressing their lips together, and waited. Yami's eyes opened fully a minute later when Yugi finally got fed up and pinched his hip, startling his mouth open and allowing him to slip his tongue inside and lace it with his.

Yami stirred more fully now, growing more awake, horribly confused and somehow turned on. Yugi wanted to laugh at his expression but instead pulled away and tapped Yami's thigh. "Roll over onto your back."

For a full minute Yami didn't move, didn't respond, just stared and then, very slowly, as if terrified and trying to make his body move despite the panic, moved onto his back and watched him like a hawk. It became evident Yami had the wrong idea a few seconds later when Yugi stepped closer and Yami's entire body tensed to the point that Yugi thought he was a statue.

Yugi had no plan to top Yami; in fact, all he wanted was to ride a little until he fell asleep again. And besides, sex was definitely a lot more fun than video games at the moment. Yugi didn't bother opening his mouth to explain. Most likely he would have ended up snapping at him to stay still after Yami fidgeted, eyes wide and blinking several times a second.

He had a brief moment of thinking that they should get off the couch, but shrugged the thought off; he could clean the couch if he needed to, in case things got messy, but he really hoped they wouldn't. Then again, maybe this was the problem with two guys fucking—with the uke riding, it probably meant a lot more of a mess than anyone wanted to deal with.

Yugi shrugged this thought off as well, instead looking at Yami's flaccid penis and thinking for a moment. Did it make him less of who he was if he pumped him until he was erect? He sure as hell wasn't going to give a blowjob. First of all, he had no idea how to do it and this late at night, grumpy because he couldn't sleep yet, he'd probably end up biting it off in his haste.

And he could not see Yami enjoying that one bit. Plus, he kind of thought that Yami might bleed to death if that happened. He wasn't sure because he never really experienced someone having their penis bitten off or cut off or whatever so he had no idea whatsoever. Maybe Yami would bleed to death and what would Yugi do with the body? And what about his sex? And the attention…that strange connection…

It was so wrong that he was using him like this, and yet he couldn't find it in him to stop. He liked this deeper attention, craved it like his life depended on it, wanted Yami to pay that attention to him in the way only he seemed to know how.

He might have been able to fumble through a blowjob while Yami was drunk, but fully coherent and he would realize Yugi had no experience—not that he should since he was straight—and then he might be able to figure out that Yugi had never even masturbated before. His crush on Tea, as strong as it was, as much as he had wanted her, had never been masturbation material. _Tea _was not masturbation material as far as he was concerned. He could try picturing his little fantasies in his head, but most of the time they didn't work and sex dreams about her…never happened.

How awkward…

He wrapped a hand around the penis, pumping gently and wondering at how much pressure he was supposed to put on the flesh. Yami stared at him in confusion and then looked at Yugi's hand wrapped around him and a suddenly growing-familiar sensation of panic ripped through him, but it died away almost immediately as well.

He had already fucked up. The first time it had been something of a mistake, a drunken mistake. The second time it was curiosity. And the third time…well, this was him admitting that he liked it when Yugi touched and kissed him, though he was unsure of what Yugi was doing right now.

If Yugi wasn't going to take him, then why was he on his back?

Yami had never touched a porn magazine. It was just something in his head that warned him against it. Well, that and his parents. Because his mother would have a heart attack and his father…well, that would be shameful as far as his father was concerned. Sex was supposed to be an experience when you reached the age of maturity and you were comfortable with it; that was what his father had drilled into his head. You caressed her, seduced her, made her happier than you made yourself, _kept_ her happy…

Yami's stomach did a small somersault. Yugi was not a girl.

But how unnatural could it be if he liked it? If it felt good? If he wanted it?

Yugi continued pumping until his penis was erect again and then smiled, more than a little pleased with his handiwork. He pulled his hand away and Yami's penis remained erect, throbbing, large in its size, making anticipation course through him.

"What…are we doing exactly?"

His voice was thick and groggy and slightly hoarse and Yugi nearly choked on his own spit when he felt his own penis throb with arousal at the sound of it; holy crap, Yami half-asleep had a voice like a god…

He cleared his own throat, wrinkling his nose slightly. "What do you mean?"

Yami's eyes narrowed, squinting at him in the dull lighting the kitchen offered them. His tongue, dry and cottony as it always was when he woke up after doing something that required physical activity, flicked out to wet his lips, still confused. Why was it that Yugi had touched him like that if he planned to top?

"I mean…" He struggled for words and Yugi tilted his head curiously at him, confused and thoughtful.

"I'm not topping if that's what you're worried about."

"You're not?"

It was the sleep voice, the way he was struggling to form his words, the way it lilted and deepened at random moments, that kept Yugi from losing his patience. He wasn't sure why this seemed to work for him, but it did.

"No."

"Then what are we doing?"

Yugi would have laughed at his naivety, but then he saw how hopelessly confused he was and instead pushed the impulse away; maybe the kid was horribly sheltered. Maybe that was why he wore the clothes that he did and asked questions like this. Maybe that was why he panicked so often when it came to this.

"You must live a sheltered life," Yugi muttered under his breath, though Yami heard him and looked away, feeling his stomach twist with worry.

In all honesty, he did live a rather sheltered life. He had followed his parents' rules without objection outside of wearing the clothes he wanted as some weird sort of protest. He did what he needed to get by and nothing more. He went to school to keep suspicion off. He went straight home after except for the project he and Yugi were doing. He never did anything fun. He didn't hang out with his friends. He didn't even hang out with his cousins. He got good grades. He did what was needed and nothing that could expose him.

And now Yugi was calling him out on this and he couldn't help but feel a little hurt with the fact. It wasn't Yugi's statement itself because it was true, but the fact that he was calling him out on it made him feel slightly sick with worry. And to have his naïve nature pointed out, have it practically showcased in this moment, that hurt even more.

Yugi was too busy looking at Yami's penis, too busy aligning himself, to notice that Yami was no longer paying attention, holding Yami's hips to brace himself, starting to lower himself; when his skin touched Yami, Yami jolted slightly and the head went inside of him.

He was just lucky Yami was not too horribly jumpy or he would have been impaled even worse than he had that afternoon. While it burned the slightest bit from the unexpected motion, it faded away almost immediately because Yami was not moving and he was instead staring at him with a horrified expression, eyes widened to a point that Yugi had never seen, his hands going into his hair in shock. But Yugi had to admit that this action also proved to be helpful as well, because now that the tip was in, Yugi didn't have to worry about the small bit of fear that had welled up in his stomach at the thought of doing this all by himself, and now Yugi knew for a fact that they had properly aligned as he had been slightly unsure himself.

Yami's little jerk had done the job well enough. He ignored the horrified look that he got from the red-eyed teen upon looking up and instead went about lowering himself slowly; Yami furrowed his brows for a moment and then suddenly, before Yugi could even lower himself another inch, Yami grabbed his hips and helped to steady him, moving him slightly so that the action became more comfortable for him.

When he felt the taller teen was fully sheathed, Yami released him and Yugi gripped at his arms, using them to steady himself for a moment just as Yami moved his hands to grab at his left hip and steady him with his left hand holding just below his ribcage, balancing him rather effectively. Yugi cursed every porn magazine out there that he had touched—damn Joey for constantly leaving them around his room for him to find, claiming that he "needed to be more of a man"—and porn magazines were a major part of that, according to the blond—or Tea would never want him.

Yugi wanted to wring his neck because, oddly enough, this balancing on Yami's penis like this, was not very easy. Granted, he was a little too wired with excitement to really think straight, seeing as this position made him feel strange and good and the prospect of riding Yami—for whatever reason, maybe because he really just needed to get rid of his energy and the best way for him to do this, as it always had been, was to excite himself with something he had never done and wait for it to burn him out—pleased him to no end. Yami kept his hands on him and Yugi kept his grip on his arms for a long minute before pulling his right away and gripping Yami's left hip firmly.

Yami didn't release him, however, and Yugi found that he liked this. Yami showed him concern that he had never witnessed before and he wanted to swim in it; he really almost wished he could drown in it. His concern, his attention, pulled at his heart and left him overwhelmed with happiness. It was the strangest thing because he really should have wanted it from someone else—a female, possibly Tea if she hadn't been so infatuated with the boy beneath him—and he really didn't want it from anyone else.

When he moved Yami's grip tightened the smallest bit but he kept him balanced and the grip was anything but painful, just firm enough for him to know that he was there and would help him if needed. Yugi couldn't help it. Again his mind leaped to the differences between Yami and his friends.

They treated him like a little kid half the time. And if they offered to help him out with things, it was because they didn't think he could do it himself. Yugi had gotten in a fight with a kid in ninth grade and Joey had immediately offered to back him up; the smaller teen was anything but stupid and he knew by the way Joey said it—smugly, condescendingly, waiting for him to mess up—that he had no faith in him whatsoever, but all it had served to do was make Yugi desperate to prove himself and he had.

Yami, on the other hand, was concerned for him, offering a hand that Yugi could reject at any moment if he wanted. Joey would insist until Yugi wanted to tear his head off and gave up but Yami didn't push at his patience, didn't try to make Yugi lean on him. He waited, he watched, he asked if Yugi needed help, _wanted_ help; Yugi knew without a doubt if he were to swat his hands away, they would stay away unless he told him otherwise.

Yugi had never really noticed just how much he resented his friends' treatment towards him because most people assumed the same of him because of his small stature, and now that Yami was in the picture, it was becoming that much more apparent that his friends walked all over him and thought themselves to be better than him.

"You okay?"

His voice had lost its gruff outer layer. Instead it had fallen to its perfect baritone pitch again, deep but not too deep, warm with emotion if he wished to show it.

"Mmhmm."

"Want me to pull my hands away?"

Yugi considered it for a moment and then shook his head. He honestly wished he had met Yami before and that they had gotten to know each other because he was pretty sure they would have been best friends if he hadn't gotten mixed up with Joey, Tristan, Ushio and Tea. If he had gotten to know Yami before, would he still be the boy who sought out attention everywhere he went, no matter if it was by horrible means or attention he didn't need? He knew exactly what people thought of him due to the choker he wore and the fact that people noticed him because of it was truly the only reason he cared to wear it half the time. At least as a sex slave, he was still in peoples' heads. He was still part of their thoughts, and it wasn't good attention, but it was still attention.

Yami kept his hands on him, holding him steady as he started to speed up slightly, and felt Yami thrust his hips up into him, making him moan. At least Yami wasn't lazy in bed, even if he was extremely naïve.

How could he have not known what Yugi was trying to do? And when he had helped him to sheathe him inside of him, the look of relief, curiosity and overall wonder had left him nearly speechless. What else did Yami not know as far as sex went? Had he never opened a porn magazine, never watched a porno?

Yugi had expected him to be more experienced than this. Not sexually as far as them in bed, but as far as knowledge about it went…

"Do you know what it means to deep-throat someone?" Yugi asked, his curiosity getting the better of him as he picked up pace and Yami thrust into him again, a little harder, hitting his prostate and making stars appear behind his eyes.

"Deep-throat?" Yami repeated, confused and wide-eyed, head tilting slightly to the side and his tongue slowly wetting his dry lips; his stomach twisted. Why was Yugi calling him out on his naivety again?

"It's…" Yugi thought about how to explain it for a long moment and then pursed his lips slightly, shaking his head. "Never mind."

He didn't miss the small flicker of hurt that passed through the red orbs almost subconsciously, hidden beneath the shadow of his lashes, barely visible just under the top outer ring of his irises. He didn't comment but he sure as hell didn't miss it either.

He felt bad, really bad, so despite the fact that he was a little worried about the red-eyed teen, he offered, "It's where someone will open their throat all the way and swallow something. It's…err…normally like with blowjobs and all that?"

The taller teen beneath him narrowed his eyes slightly and then thrust into his prostate again, murmuring, "Yeah?"

"Yep."

Yami didn't answer him, instead opting for biting his lip. He definitely understood that joke in class now. Some girl had been eating a lollipop and the class asshole had turned around out of nowhere and said, "Having fun deep-throating that lollipop?" while everyone else laughed and Yami had stared expressionlessly to make sure his confusion did not show.

Yugi decided not to call him out on his silence, instead moaning as his penis hit his prostate again and his speed increased slightly; he wasn't surprised in the least when Yami matched his newer pace, still hitting his prostate. It was strange, because Yami started to get him three times as fast as he moved, hitting once when he lowered to press his ass against Yami's pelvis, again when he rose halfway and a third time when he reached the tip of Yami's penis and started to lower again. He liked this a lot. This was definitely better than any video game could have been.

Yami moaned with him a couple of times, closing his eyes and digging his top teeth into his bottom lip, keeping his grip on Yugi and reveling in the sound of his deeply pleasured cries. Yugi found that this was actually pretty nice. He preferred his eyes open to see them, see the flashes of pleasure and the way his eyes were dark with lust, but this was pretty awesome, too. He looked relaxed, happy, pleased to no end, occasionally licking his lips and letting out a small purr.

He liked that purr. That purr was a sound of pure pleasure and it made him want to purr in response. It was deep with a baritone pitch, warm with lust, and doubled with the pleasure that surged from his chest. His stomach coiled with tension at the noise, bunching together with his quickly approaching orgasm.

When his muscles tightened around him, Yami let out a small growl and Yugi shuddered with desire and his release came almost immediately, spurring on Yami's own. Yami stared in confusion when Yugi didn't pull off of him and instead just lay down and fell asleep almost immediately. He couldn't understand what he was supposed to do with this, but he didn't wake him up to move and so instead just closed his eyes and settled into sleeping with Yugi's own face burying itself in the crook of his neck.

When Yugi woke up next, Yami was still inside him, fast asleep beneath him, and Yugi knew Yami was flaccid, allowing him to pull away and get up with a small limp to his step. He stretched himself out and glanced at the clock on top of the TV, yawning and feeling thankful it was a Friday—or rather, Saturday morning. Yami remained asleep in front of him and Yugi smirked as he looked him over. Yami was definitely a looker and asleep like this, he could be described as beautiful by all means, though Yugi would never say that out loud.

He watched as Yami's chest rose and fell with his breathing, which was silent and made Yugi smirk wider; at least he didn't snore like his grandfather did. If Yami was a snorer, he thought he might have put a pillow over his face and smothered him. Stretching out again, he had a vague moment of confusion of how he had woken up on top of the red-eyed teen, but then remembered that he had woken Yami up in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep and wanted him to tire him out.

Yami had stamina; Yugi had to admit that much. The first time he had lasted only thirty minutes in his drunken state but now that he was sober he had lasted twice as long and when he was half-asleep, he lasted just as long but he had fallen asleep almost immediately after Yugi.

He liked the idea of the small bit of growling that Yami had made. And the purring. The purring was nice too. Mostly he liked the growling though. It was different. And barely there, just coming out beneath his moans, an undercurrent of noise that bit at the end of his other.

He started on breakfast, making cereal and still feeling hungry began to make something else, and after thirty minutes, Yami woke up to the sound of plates being moved around; the scent of eggs and grits hit his nose and he got up after a moment, pulling his clothes on when he was sure Yugi was too busy to notice him doing anything, vaguely surprised that Yugi liked western style food. And then, clothes on, he fled.

* * *

Yami wasn't sure why he was doing this when he really shouldn't have. He had to be the biggest asshole in existence. Mana sat at his side, looking on his phone screen as they scrolled through the website, her eyes lighting up while Mahado snorted in amusement and went over to see what in all they were looking at.

The fresh air was definitely doing his pounding head good because at least now he could think a little straighter. There weren't too many people outside right now which was good for him because he was pretty sure he couldn't handle it if there were.

Especially if Yugi and the others were part of them. He was with the twins outside in the sunlight, his unnaturally cold body warming with it; he was still in some kind of state of confusion, scornful and nagging that sent his skin crawling in waves. He'd forced himself to sit in that godforsaken cafeteria for over twenty minutes before it became too much and he had coerced Mana into coming with him to do some online shopping since they wouldn't have time to do so for a little while yet.

She had immediately jumped to her feet eagerly but Mahado had hesitated and Yami knew that he had seen that Yugi would occasionally glance over at them as the red-eyed teen was not oblivious to the feel of his stare against his skin. He wasn't sure why the smaller boy kept glancing at him for small inconsistent amounts of time, but it left him dazed and confused and he felt sick.

His stomach had calmed considerably now that he was no longer in that stuffy place with Yugi despite being on the other side of the room and having his back to him. His skin didn't feel nearly as revolting now.

He scrolled a little more and she tapped on a pair of heels that she wanted while Yami pulled his debit card out of his back pocket and starting typing in the number with his free hand.

They had started this up in ninth grade, when Yami had preordered a video game with his phone, using his debit card and Mana had gotten so excited it was amazing. Once a month he would get her anything she wanted no matter the price just because it also helped to make his parents believe that he was courting women and buying them expensive gifts as a means of drawing them to him.

It made him look better than he actually was.

He pushed the thought away and instead finished the request before handing the phone back. "Go ahead and keep looking." _I have to make up for the last two months I've missed_…_They might get suspicious otherwise_. _I can't handle them being suspicious_. _I'll die if they're suspicious_…

She blinked but when he thought she was going to question him she instead shrugged and went back to scanning through the pictures, humming and giggling every once in a while but she hadn't chosen anything so Yami didn't take the phone to use his debit card again.

"How much are you going to let her buy? She'll get half the website if you're not careful," Mahado teased but at the same time there was a very serious light to his eyes that made Yami smile in response, shaking his head and glancing over her shoulder at a shirt that she was currently looking at.

"Six items," he reminded her, drumming his fingers on his thighs. His father had not yet asked but he monitored his bank account frequently which was exactly why Yami had started letting Mana get things with his card. The good thing for her was that she got what she normally wouldn't because her family had to constantly worry about their income.

Mahado got electronics every once in a while if he only asked and Yami used the excuse that something had broken and he needed it for school, although his earphones had been a little harder to wave off as needed for school than the laptop or the speakers—he said they were to help with his project presentation—or the thumb-drives.

But he didn't need the money they sent and he didn't even leave the house half the time unless he needed to get food and most of the time he ordered in because otherwise he risked exposure and he couldn't do that. If Yugi's grandfather recognized him, then someone else could too and he couldn't have that happen. With that stupid artifact at the damn museum he was bound to be recognized if he was not careful. Just the thought made him sick to his stomach.

Besides that they would think that the current six items were just because he was trying to woo a girl over after having forgotten the last two months. That was simple enough. He didn't want to have to worry about it later.

Nipping it in the bud now was the best way to ensure that.

Thank Ra his parents were so simple minded.

* * *

**If I miss a day and I don't update immediately afterwards, then it probably means that my laptop died so yeah...I don't honestly think it will, but it IS two years old now and it's an HP and HP laptops aren't always the best, but I just wanted to warn you guys just in case.**


	5. Real Life

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Note: Story will be updated every Wednesday**

**Warning: TONS of cursing throughout story**

**Chapter Warning: Chapter is rated MA (Mature Adult) for sexual content (lemon)**

**Lemon Warning: If you want to skip the lemon, don't read past the statement "That was fucking awesome, Yami!" and skip to "So I was thinking that we would do the pharaohs in Egypt". If you don't think you're going to remember that, use F and Ctrl and type both phrases in, then delete the first phrase when you come up to it and use the Find function to get to the second part where the lemon is finished.**

**Lemon Note: The lemons actually DO serve a purpose, though, so yeah, I didn't just write it and post it without a reason...**

Chapter V: Real Life

Yami was apprehensive upon heading back to Yugi's house. Yugi definitely could not blame him for being this way. Apparently every time they went to his house, they ended up fucking. Yugi wasn't sure he wanted this to happen again, but at the same time, he kind of did. He liked it.

He wanted the attention. He craved it in a way that he had never wanted anything else. It was sickening because it seemed to eat away at his subconscious, seemed to dominate his thoughts in every way possible. Yugi hated this but he loved it at the same time.

Maybe it was a vicious cycle he just didn't know how to end. The thought was oddly exhilarating.

Yami noticed it immediately when Yugi did not call out to his grandpa again. "Where's your grandfather?" he asked, alarmed and feeling his stomach twist with anxiety. He was confused and he didn't need to add another day of sex with Yugi to this. His thoughts were always too jumbled lately. His heart would twist in ways it shouldn't and his stomach bunched up more than once with the stress his head brought him.

Yugi lazily flipped the sign over so that it said Open and then went to the counter, gesturing him over with a leisurely flick of his wrist. The blue-violet eyes grew sharp as Yami looked over his shoulder for a moment and then walked over to him, looking horribly guilty and tense.

"He's in Egypt."

He failed to miss it when Yami's face drained of all color, completely white. So Egypt made Yami nervous or something? What the hell was wrong with Egypt? His eyes narrowed as he looked at him but he didn't question it and Yami didn't supply answers, turning away and completely acting as if he had not just seemed to have seen a ghost.

"He's doing an expedition. He does them all the time."

Yami nodded a little. "How often?"

It didn't scream enthusiasm, but Yugi hadn't expected it to.

"Every couple of months. He's old and his heart is kind of weak, but he doesn't want to stop and it's not like I can stop him anyways."

"You're his only grandson, right?"

"Grand_child_. I'm his only grand_child_," Yugi corrected.

Yami turned his head and looked at him in surprise. "No cousins?"

"Nope. Just me."

"Oh."

"My mom was an only child and Dad's family isn't exactly…nice, so we don't interact very often."

"Oh."

Yugi was oddly glad that Yami did not apologize for him like Tea had done. Or go "Yikes so Gramps is all yours, huh?" like Joey or just nod like Tristan had done. And he was definitely relieved when Yami did not try to steal from the cash register like Ushio did.

Instead, Yami did something that startled him.

"I'm an only child too."

"Yeah, but you have cousins. And I don't exactly see you taking care of an elderly grandparent."

"No, you don't," Yami agreed. "Because they're dead."

"Oh."

The red-eyed teen shrugged. "It doesn't matter. It happened a long time ago."

"Did you ever meet them?"

"No but my father had told me so many stories I might as well have."

Yugi felt a small bit of discomfort. They were borderline talking about their families and that was one of the topics that they had agreed upon not talking about—one that Yugi himself had personally brought up. He bit his lip and turned away just as Yami seemed to realize what made him so suddenly quiet.

"Anyways, so, um…" Yugi started, trying not to let awkwardness make itself known and failing miserably.

"About the project," Yami announced, turning to him. "Are we doing another slideshow presentation or what?"

Yugi felt gratitude flood his system because Yami wasn't pushing like Joey or Tristan would have and he wasn't sneering like Ushio despite the rather obvious discomfort he was exposing to the red-eyed teen. "Yeah, I kind of thought we would," he admitted, playing with his pencil, chewing his cheek as Yami looked at him thoughtfully. "I figured we would do what we did last time."

"Why? Neither of us was exactly happy about being paired together a second time and if we do a good job again…" Yami started, tilting his head slightly and letting his voice trail off.

"It's worth more than thirty percent of our grade. I am not about to let either of us fail just because of…" He struggled for the word for a moment. "Just because we fucked a little. So what? Fucking is healthy, you know. So by doing this we're just increasing our health."

Was that all this was to Yugi? Some kind of weird, sickly fun exercise activity? Yami almost smacked him. How could it not affect him in any other way? He personally had torn out a clump of hair on accident stressing over what others would think of him and Yugi was indifferent to it all?

"Besides, no one is ever going to know about it but us, right?"

Yami doubted that. Secrets always got out. This…thing they had going on was no different. It was like that cheerleader who had started sleeping around recently and her boyfriend found out despite the team having their lips shut about it.

What would happen if someone else found out? His stomach twisted. Japan was known for being okay with homosexuality as long as it was not flaunted but his parents… He shuddered to even _think _what would happen with them.

He didn't answer and that was why Yugi paused writing some notes to look at him with an eyebrow raised, waiting.

"What?" the red-eyed teen asked in confusion before blinking and then nodding slowly. "Right, you're right. No one is ever going to find out about us."

"Good. I didn't think you would be one of those people who would fuck and blab."

Yami's jaw clenched for a moment before he turned away. "Yeah, not so much."

Yugi turned away and played with his paper again, writing another note and then tapping his eraser against the glass of the counter they were sitting behind. "So, if we do the same thing that we did as last time, do you want to do the shorter presentation slideshow and the longer one for our actual grade?"

"It makes more sense like that."

Yugi didn't think that Yami actually _meant _to snap like he did. He looked stressed and a little insulted because of the "fuck and blab" comment. Yugi wasn't stupid so he knew the only reason he took offense was because of his pride, not because he cared about the statement in itself. Yugi liked that about Yami. He was not easily offended but certain things, low blows beneath the belt, made him pissy. And he didn't take _every_ comment offensively, even where others would have.

Yami seemed to realize that he had snapped because after a moment he looked sheepish, scratching at the back of his neck. "Sorry."

"For what?"

Yami's eyes narrowed. Yugi wanted to dismiss it. That made two of them.

"Hungry?"

Yami blinked. "A little," he admitted. He hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch because he had gotten up late and lunch had looked beyond disgusting so he hadn't touched it whatsoever. Though why Yugi was bringing up food at a time like this was definitely beyond him.

"Want me to make you a sandwich? Because I'm going upstairs to do that in a minute anyways."

Yami's lips twitched slightly. "Please?"

"Turkey or peanut butter and jelly?"

"Peanut Butter and jelly, please."

"You know, you really don't have to do that whole polite thing with me," the smaller teen murmured, getting up; Yami gave him a startled look and Yugi instantly felt bad because if Yami was raised that way, calling him out on this was one of the rudest things he could possibly do. Immediately he changed the subject. "Do you know how to work the register?"

Yami blinked and looked down before shaking his head slightly. "But I'm a quick study so if you show me, I think it'll be fine."

Yugi smiled a little and went about pointing out the functions of the buttons and watched as Yami nodded every now and then, watched as he seemed to sort the information every which way.

"I think you'll be okay though. It's been a pretty slow day anyways," Yugi offered when he saw the way Yami started to look oddly uncomfortable; it was a misinterpretation on his part, because it was the fact that Yugi was so close and Yami could smell him that made him uncomfortable like this. "Grape, blueberry or strawberry?"

"Blueberry, plea—" He cut himself off and frowned.

"Blueberry, huh?" Yugi murmured, smirking. "Finally someone else who likes it."

"No one else likes it?"

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Joey can't even stand jelly. Tristan and Ushio like grape. And Tea likes strawberry," he supplied; Yami gave him a puzzled look and he was rather amused and grateful that he was willing to wait until Yugi was ready to tell him anything else rather than blurting out a question like his rather mindless friends. "We normally come here after school. And they normally don't leave until after like ten at night. So half the time they end up eating over here."

Yami's head tilted to the left the smallest bit. "But if blueberry is the flavor that you like, then why…?"

"I got tired of them fucking complaining all the time," he replied, rolling his eyes. "Joey ate it but bitched about it the entire time. Tristan didn't say anything but his face would screw up a little. Ushio bitched the entire time and almost wouldn't eat it. And Tea kept picking at it and saying it wasn't great and she liked strawberry better."

Yami snorted and shook his head. "Bakura and Malik can't even function if they aren't trying to chew each other's heads off."

Yugi laughed. "I've never seen you guys hang out together."

"That's because we don't. When the three of us are just together alone, things get really bad."

"You guys fight a lot?"

"Uh…no," he replied, snickering and shaking his head. "No, do you remember that Halloween freshman year?"

"When someone set off those awesome ass soda sprays in the hallway and soaked everyone while the girls ran away screaming?" Yugi asked, laughing hard. "Oh my god, that was epic."

Yami smirked and shook his head. "I told them to _scare _someone, not to freaking give everyone heart attacks," he muttered. "But then we got into this contest about who could scare who the worst and then somewhere along the lines we ended up working together and the massive Soda Attack on Halloween of 2010 happened."

Yugi howled with laughter. "That was you guys?"

Yami nodded. "Oh yeah. See what I mean? The three of us together is a recipe for disaster."

"But _awesome _disasters."

"That was us mild though." He paused and then leaned forward to lay his elbows against the counter and his chin in his hands. "We hadn't meant to terrorize everyone though. Just scare them a little."

"Yeah, but it was awesome like that."

_Oh I bet. You probably got a free peek at Tea's breasts thanks to that stupid soda, _Yami thought before narrowing his eyes. What the fuck? What should he care about that anyways? It wasn't like they were actually doing something other than having random hookups. If he was truly jealous, there was something wrong with him.

"And you got that one teacher in the face!" Yugi laughed, oblivious to his sudden change of posture; Yami turned his head, confused.

"What teacher?"

"The female one with the large mole on her face—the one who wears way too much makeup. With red hair and the tight suits she wears all the time."

"I know _of _her and what she looks like, but I have no idea what her name is," Yami admitted, frowning. "I don't have any classes with her."

Yugi nodded. "Neither do I. I mean, I did for like a month but then she got swapped into another class. I don't know why but whatever. Anyways, she looked like a raccoon and everyone was laughing at her."

Yami felt his lips twitch up in the corner and felt slightly bad to be laughing at another's misfortune but the picture he got of the woman was nothing if not comical. "I bet."

"Okay, I'll be back in a minute," the smaller teen announced, turning and running upstairs with Yami's eyes trailing him until he disappeared from sight; as soon as he was gone, his head snapped around to look at the red door in front of him.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why would he be jealous of something like that? Was he really that pathetic? He felt nothing towards either of them. Sure, he and Yugi had fucked, but he didn't feel anything out of the moments they were practically tearing each other's clothes off. So was it about him being able to see down Tea's shirt? But then Yami was anything but interested in that brainless ditz of a brunette. He frowned at himself for a moment, shaking his head slightly. Tea seemed nice and he couldn't understand why he was badmouthing her all of the sudden, but then again, her flirting with him in front of Yugi was disrespectful on so many levels that Yami hated it with a passion. As well as the fact that while she seemed nice and liked him and the fact that he had an admirer, she was not someone that Yami could _ever _see himself with—in any way. She had an air to her that he didn't like. And Yami was never one to dismiss his gut feeling—it had never been wrong before and he doubted it would now.

Maybe it was the fact that she respected Yugi so little. Because he knew for a fact that she was not oblivious to his flirting; he had seen the way she beamed when she had Yugi's attention and all it had to do with was the fact that Yugi was complimenting her, because she lived for them. And what was worse about her, she not _only_ flirted with him in _front _of Yugi but also with someone who _looked _like Yugi himself. He honestly could not think of a lower blow one could deliver their admirer. Well, aside from rejection in front of everyone else or making fun of them for having the courage to ask them out.

He wondered if Yugi had ever asked her out. Probably not.

He didn't understand it, but he had a feeling that Yugi had not asked her out for whatever reason. But why would you not ask your crush out if you had liked them for so long?

His fingers twitched and tapped against the skin of his sharpened jaw, tilting his head to the side and biting his cheek.

Yugi and Tea were too much alike at points. They both wanted attention. Although, Tea was more disrespectful with her ambition for attention and Yugi, so far, only fought with him every now and then when they got touchy, but didn't disrespect anyone. Although, his means probably weren't the best as far as attention-grabbing went.

Did Yugi really dislike himself so much that he would let Yami have purchase of his body every time he wanted? That he would hand it over willingly just for some attention in the moment?

Yami narrowed his eyes. But then, how was he any better? He let Yugi have sex with him too; there were always two when it came to sex. He could stop Yugi at any time he wanted and yet he never once tried. He wanted it and he didn't understand why. He liked it and it confused him.

He was raised to respect people and namely women and this entire thing was knocking his feet out from under him where he already lacked balance. He had no idea what the hell he was supposed to do and again, his parents came to mind. His father would have his hide. He would never make it to seventeen if he ever found out.

Yami felt something die inside of him with this thought. It was oddly satisfying, however, and it left him even more confused. What the hell was going on with him? Was he crazy? Stupid? Did having sex with Yugi make him an idiot? What the hell was wrong with him? How could that little pain in his chest feel so satisfying and induce such pride in himself? Was it supposed to feel like this?

Yugi came down with two sandwiches and put one in front of him, happily munching on his own. "So did anyone come in?"

"No," Yami replied, taking the sandwich and tearing off a bit before putting it in his mouth. Yugi watched him with interest; something was definitely off about the teen next to him. He wasn't sure what and he had no idea how to even describe it, but it was anything but alarming so he didn't comment on it.

"So how much longer until we close shop?" Yami asked, continuing with his tearing bits off his food and eating them; Yugi couldn't understand why he would tear his sandwich instead of just biting into it but again he didn't comment.

"A couple more hours."

"Okay."

Yugi pushed his confusion towards Yami's actions away and instead focused on eating his own sandwich. But a million questions jumped out at him. Why did Yami look uncomfortable when he had chosen Egypt for their project? Why had he paled drastically when he told him about his grandfather's expeditions? What had just changed while he was upstairs? Why did he not even care about Tea anymore? Why did Yami not talk down at him like the rest of them? Why didn't Yami go shopping anymore? Why didn't he wear the clothes they bought outside of his little drunken stupor? Why did it never seem like Yami was an inconvenience like the others sometimes felt to him? Why was Yami so polite in the first place? Why didn't he even bat an eye when he saw that his clothes were almost two hundred dollars? Why did he want to be around him anyways? What made him likeable like this? Why did they keep doing this?

When Yugi looked up at him again, Yami was pointedly studying his information worksheet and starting to group some bullet points together for what Yugi guessed was for a certain paragraph or other.

Wasn't them being around each other again supposed to be just as awkward as it was the first time? Maybe they had run out of awkwardness since then. The thought made him smirk.

Yugi wandered off and put their plates up and when he got back, Yami was working through some homework while looking for facts in the book they had gotten from the school library during lunch only two days before.

The bell on the door went off, making both of them look up; Yugi paled while Yami sat up even straighter, tensing as the three strode into the shop.

_Why_?_ Why_?_ Why_?Why?

Yugi was three seconds from asking that himself.

"Shit, man, I thought you were joking when you said you were going to be doing your project all day after school," the blond said, looking him up and down for a moment and shaking his head before his eyes flickered towards Yami. The two brunets didn't react to his presence at first and for a long time they just looked at Yugi and then finally their heads turned towards Yami and Yugi swallowed hard.

The tension was practically tangible and Yugi felt like someone should call him out on his twitching but then Yami seemed too nice to and the others weren't close enough to see his hands fidgeting through the glass.

"Why would I joke about that?" Yugi snapped, making all four of them look at him in surprise—his little group's was barely contained but Yami's eyes had only widened slightly and the emotion only showed near his pupils.

Joey was not happy with the small bit of anger in his voice and it became apparent with the glare he gave him after he had fought off his surprise. The brown eyes flashed in clear warning and beside him, almost imperceptibly, Yami tensed as if ready to lunge. "Maybe because most of the time you don't _do _schoolwork," he said in a voice with an undertone of threat.

"Actually, I get stuck doing all of yours and can't seem to get to my own."

Yami was used to spats but he didn't expect himself to be part of the one that was going on right now; he clamped his teeth into his cheek, uncomfortable beyond belief and really wanting this to end already.

"If you ever just _bothered _to freaking pick up a pencil, maybe I wouldn't have to do your homework and fuck up my own," the smallest teen spat angrily, bristling suddenly and making Yami awkwardly look down at his worksheet as the tension threatened to suffocate all five of them.

"Dude—"

"They have a project to do," Tristan cut in before Joey could say his piece, looking at Yami and then at Yugi. "Come on guys, let's just go."

Ushio looked unhappy with this suggestion, his thick eyebrows pulling together as his lip curled slightly and his eyes tried to bore a hole into the red-eyed teen in front of him; after a moment of ignoring him pointedly, the teen raised his head and gave him a completely bored look.

Yugi was a second from choking when he saw the look on his three friends' faces. The shock, the irritation, was hilarious as far as he was concerned. All three of them looked like deer caught in headlights and he wanted to laugh out loud at this, but he kept himself quiet. Any _other _time and he would have doubled over, laughing until his face was red and his eyes were blurry with tears.

But this situation was hardly the time to do that.

"Seriously, guys," Tristan snapped, for once raising his voice so that both of them looked at him in surprise. "Let's get out of here already. They have a project to do. Not to mention that we have our _own_ projects to work on."

Yugi watched them as they swapped looks and then turned to him.

"See you later, Yug."

"Bye guys."

When all three of them were gone and Yugi was sure they were out of earshot, he fell out of his seat, laughing; Yami looked at him, startled and wide-eyed by his display. He ignored the small bit of pain he got in his back from his tumble, laughing harder when he saw Yami's face through his lashes. He watched as the taller teen's lips twitched up into a small grin and his mouth parted just enough to let out a low chuckle that was purely amused. His chuckle soon grew into full blown laughter and Yugi couldn't help but find it odd how easily Yami laughed with him. Crude comments, harsh remarks, the truth cloaked in a nasty voice, were normally the only thing that got the others to laugh. Well, except for Tea, because only jokes or humorous stories about Yami got her to laugh apparently.

He liked the gleam in those exotic eyes. Stretching from the bottom of his pupil down to the outer layer of his irises. Pure amusement, clouded by nothing more.

He felt happier than he had in a really long time in that single moment.

Yami continued laughing with him, the tone rich and unfaltering. Yugi loved it. He admitted to it. He loved that laughter. It was different and unique and it made his stomach tingle with happiness and amusement.

Yami had to admit that he had not laughed like this outside of brief moments alone with his cousins. No one outside of them had ever really made him laugh for more than a minute or two. And now he had been laughing for five minutes straight. He was so stressed out half the time, so tied up with other things, that moments like this existed in such rare amounts, and it felt incredible to unwind and laugh like this. In fact, in all honesty, Yami had nearly forgotten what his own laughter sounded like. And genuine smiles felt weird on his lips.

For a whole ten minutes the two of them kept laughing until they finally quieted down and Yugi got up and walked around to the door to flip the sign and lead the way upstairs after gathering his own materials off the counter. Yugi shook his head, grinning, and took a seat on the couch next to Yami.

"Oh my god, their fucking faces. I nearly laughed at them."

Yami's lips twitched up into a huge grin. "Oh, I know. I saw your face."

"You pissed them off so badly!"

"I know."

"That was fucking awesome, Yami!"

The statement earned him a chuckle that died almost instantly and then Yami was staring at him with a concerned expression.

"Hey, what made you snap at them? I don't—"

Yugi shoved his tongue down his throat at that moment, deciding that he didn't want to talk anymore and really wished to avoid this conversation and any other involving those three. They were hardly something he ever wanted to talk about.

However the hell Yami managed it, Yugi was just lucky that Yami stopped talking or he might have had his tongue bitten off. He wasn't exactly welcomed because Yami's hands gripped at his shoulders, grasping a little tightly and then releasing again before pulling away. He didn't push him away but Yugi knew he wasn't exactly the happiest with the intrusion either. It was too sudden. Yugi wasn't even sure _he _liked it and he was the one who had done it.

It wasn't comfortable. It had been rushed and stupid and it was pretty obvious in the way Yami's tongue wasn't moving even once that he had moved a little too fast for his liking. Yugi definitely couldn't blame him though. When he moved his own tongue, it felt awkward and strange due to the desperation he had felt in the moment.

He hated it. Both of them hated it.

But eventually, when Yugi pulled back a little, it worked to help with the situation. Yami pressed his tongue against his hesitantly, as if inviting him back, and Yugi would have grinned if he could have. But it felt unnatural and wrong to do so when his tongue was in Yami's mouth so he decided not to try.

It was odd, but this time it was Yami who lost his patience with the slow pace they were going. For whatever reason, his hands were the one to reach out and start to shed his clothes away, pushing him back and his tongue sliding and warm against his. The icy minty taste of his mouth made Yugi's nerves hum with delight.

God, Yami was delicious. He thought he might swap out milk or white chocolate for dark with the way Yami tasted so nice.

Yami could not really put his finger on what Yugi tasted like. He recognized it but more like it was a memory, something that he hadn't tasted in a long time. Something that he knew he liked but had not been given the privilege to taste in a long time.

Then again, he was never allowed sweet things unless he was a good kid and when he _tried _to be a good kid, apparently he failed horribly. His dad always found something to call him out on, whether it was something as small as wearing a watch that didn't quite fit the rest of his outfit. Admonishments were more popular than praise.

Yugi reciprocated and pulled his jacket and shirt off. Yami dug his teeth into his cheek, watching him, eyes focusing on his kiss-swollen lips. Maybe this was some kind of rebellion towards his parents? Maybe that was what this was? Maybe all this lust that he felt, that breaking off of whatever piece of him that had died away downstairs, was just some kind of manifestation of him wanting to rebel against his parents?

It was definitely possible. He always hated the tight leash they had kept him on. He was rarely allowed out the house and until he had come to Japan, he had been home-schooled and was taught at three times the rate that the district taught. While he was in fourth grade, he was already learning the material of a senior in high school.

His parents had never truly allowed him to socialize and when he did, they really only ever allowed him around girls. Some of them were older and more than once his father had tried to hook him up at the age of twelve and for whatever reason, he shied away from it all.

Maybe the lack of being around males outside of family had made him think that this was the ultimate rebellion against his parents?

Guilt and shame flooded his system. He didn't want to think he was using Yugi in such a pathetic way. He really didn't but it was so possible. It was so possible with the way his own mind worked and the way that this seemed so pleasantly okay with him. Yugi wanted attention and Yami wanted to rebel. How sickening was this?

But then, real life was nothing if not sickening.

That was why people tried to drown themselves in alcohol. It was why they stuffed pills down their throats. It was the reason for trashy hookups.

Was that what they were? A trashy hookup?

His stomach hurt with the idea. He didn't want to use Yugi like that and he didn't want to think that was what his first time was. He'd been plastered off his ass but in all honesty, he wanted to pretend that the little black spots in his memory were just from some kind of sensory overload instead of him not being able to handle his liquor.

Then again, he'd never _had _hard liquor before…

Vodka and beer, a couple Bloody Mary's, maybe a few shots of Russian vodka at some point…?

His head swam for a moment and it was only then that he realized Yugi was no longer touching him, instead having pulled back, staring at him with his head tilted slightly to the side and his eyebrow raised the smallest bit in confusion.

"Sorry."

"Thinking about your cousin?"

Yami took a moment and then grimaced; oh yes, that was why he had gotten drunk off his ass like an idiot and then fucked Yugi like that. Was it wrong that he took this opportunity immediately?

"Yeah, I haven't heard any news about Mokuba."

That was at least true, though his little gray-eyed, black-haired cousin was far from his thoughts in that moment, despite the codependency of the entire situation. His drunk ass had only gotten that way because of his cousin getting hit with the car.

Yugi chewed his cheek and then sighed softly. "I'm sorry," he finally murmured, scratching the back of his head and frowning; Yami wasn't the same as Rebecca or Tea and he had no idea how he was supposed to make him feel better. Rebecca wanted constant touches and handholding and Tea always wanted to be complimented and then she would let him drag Yami into the conversation so that she would be sufficiently distracted; how many times over the years had he comforted her saying that Yami wouldn't want to see her crying while his own heart had protested that he should be enough for her? But this person in front of him actually _was _Yami and Yami was nothing like those two girls and he was not like anyone else he knew so he didn't know how he was supposed to approach a hard subject with this red-eyed teen. "But I'm sure he's okay though."

He narrowed his eyes and then shook his head; he didn't want to think about this anymore. He knew Mokuba would be fine. Seto would pull him through because that's what the two of them did. They did what the other couldn't fully do and in the end they always succeeded because they were that close.

Yami had never been that close to another person. He and his cousins were close but they all constantly fought and he and Seto rammed heads so often it was a wonder they could get anything done when around each other. And he and Bakura were constantly pulling death threats on the other. He and Malik had no common ground to stand on half the time. He could never be as close to any of them as close as Seto and his brother were.

They balanced each other out. They would do anything for each other. Loyalty meant life or death as far as they were concerned. It was terrifying to think that something like that could exist between two people, family or not.

But then it was also liberating and Yami yearned for that connection more often than not. What he lacked his partner would have and vice versa. He could mess up and not be judged on it and he could be a total asshole and they would call him out on it where others would fear to do so…

He shook the idea off and pressed his lips to Yugi's again, wanting to stop the thoughts in his head from forming any more; he shut his mind down—something he had learned when around his father and his constant disapproval—and worked his tongue into Yugi's mouth, gripping at his upper arms and pushing him back against the couch. Yugi had a brief moment where he wondered if he should have been offended by his sudden reaction but decided against it when Yami's tongue mapped out the roof of his mouth and left him breathless and slightly lightheaded.

He liked this a lot. More than he should. Way more than he should.

He pushed the thought away and let Yami pull his boxers and jeans down, following them with his own before his finger entered him. Yugi squirmed once and then twice because it was still extremely uncomfortable but then again, it was definitely better than that fucking burning sensation he had gotten their second time.

And of course this time Yami kept his finger still, pulling back to lick his lips; Yugi would have told him that he didn't need to but then the warm flesh was on his lips again, and a nice yummy muscle was in his mouth. Yugi was definitely going to invest in some dark chocolate mint patties because Yami's mouth, his taste, was exhilarating and he wanted it at his disposal whenever he needed it.

He moaned when Yami hit his prostate, the pad of his finger lightly running over it gently and making him arch into him and moan even louder, his body tightening like a bowstring with the torturous pleasure. Yami pulled back, chuckling, and then finally pulled his finger away to pump again, continuing his preparation. Yugi let out a breath, unable to catch it, and fell back into the cushions more fully, face flushed and eyes wide with delight.

Ooh, he loved his prostate more than he loved anything else right now. Well, aside from Yami's mouth, but he got that back only minutes later, their tongues dancing and swirling and warm against each other.

Yami still could not place the taste but he remembered it faintly. He knew he did but it was still elusive to his memory. And it was killing him to not know but he couldn't force it so he just let it die wherever it lay in the farthest recesses of his mind.

Years of scorn and disapproval hardly left room for better memories.

Hell, he couldn't remember the last—oh, no, he could. He was six and had just figured out the solution to a fourth grade math problem that had left him stumped for weeks due to the pressure his parents placed on him. And that praise had been so sardonic and nasty it had made him cry and that, of course, had gotten him his ass whipped with a leather belt. No room for tears if you're a Sennen.

Yami honestly could not remember the last time he had cried outside of news of Mokuba's comatose state and even then he'd listened to his father's words playing in his head—full of disgust and hatred and disappointment and leaving him feeling hollow inside. He had somehow managed to get the tears under control by means he didn't know and then for whatever reason, that stupid blonde bartender had bought his little story about being twenty-one…or maybe she had taken pity on him. He would not have been surprised if that was the case. He was a fucking mess when he showed up there.

Now that he tried to recall it, he couldn't even remember how the fuck he ended _up _at the damn bar. All he knew was that he snuck in there when some drunk girl—who he _knew _was not any older than him because he had seen her in school several times—started dancing on the tables and then giving lap dances to strangers while drinking like there was no tomorrow. So he snuck in and got his drinks, laughing at her sardonically when she asked if he had had a bad night; he'd fucking taken everything from a single shot of scotch to actually snatching a bottle of vodka and drinking it straight out.

He had a feeling the bartender had gotten him a cab and they had gotten him home that way—or rather to Yugi's house—because his mind was blank past ones showing up at his door and then kissing him but then it was bits and pieces between the flashes of gaping hole in his memory—him on top of Yugi, him kissing him once or twice—and then it was all blank again.

Weren't blackouts supposed to happen when you became an alcoholic?

Yami couldn't help it. His inability to remember everything drove him insane. He still had no idea if he had raped him and he was afraid bringing it up would scare Yugi away and he really didn't want that to happen. Then again, if Yugi was willing to have sex with him again—initiating three times already—did that mean he _hadn't_ raped him?

But then Yami remembered that some rape victims would throw themselves at the knees of anyone who paid them attention because they felt so low about themselves. Or maybe he had threatened Yugi at some point in his little drunken parade and now he was initiating because he thought he had to…

His head swam with thoughts now. Yugi commonly did anything under the sun for attention. So did that mean that he could have possibly been raped sometime before ninth grade? Or maybe even younger than thirteen? He felt sick to his stomach with the idea. What if that was why Yugi dressed and practically _acted _like a sex slave?

His jaw unconsciously clamped down on his tongue and, in turn, Yugi's who made a squeaking noise and startled him out of his thoughts, pulling away with wide eyes and an expression of confusion painting his features.

"What the fuck?" Yugi cried, feeling his tongue swell slightly from the pain; fuck, Yami bit _hard_. He looked at him to find that Yami was still confused, looking completely lost, head tilted slightly to the side, blinking once or twice. Yeah, Yami had not been with him when he bit down. "Never mind."

Yami had a brief moment where he wondered if Yugi had somehow turned into one of those empathetic figures he read about in books—always sharing the others' emotions—and then nearly smacked himself for being so stupid. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Don't worry about it."

Something always seemed to be off between the two of them. Yami couldn't function for the life of him and Yugi was impatient when he wanted a fuck. He wondered if that would ever change between them. Would Yami ever get his head screwed on straight and would Yugi ever learn to have some kind of patience with other people? Ugh, his head hurt.

"Seriously, don't worry about it," he insisted upon seeing the guilty look on Yami's face. "Just start moving your fingers again already. It's weird if they aren't moving."

Yami's brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed slightly, voice confused and curious. "I thought it would feel weirder _when _they were moving," he muttered, adding a third finger and chewing his cheek.

"No, they feel good," Yugi muttered, closing his eyes and letting out a soft sigh of contentment that made Yami stare with wide eyes, eyebrows shooting up.

It was strange, but that statement brought such relief it nearly blindsided him. That could possibly mean that Yugi was just using him like he was using Yugi. Yugi got his pleasure and Yami got his release. Yugi got his attention and Yami got his rebellion.

If that was what it was anyways. He wasn't sure. It could have been a million things for all he knew.

Yami hated himself for being so complicated.

Yugi snapped his fingers in front of his face, making his eyes widen and focus on him again. "Good. I don't need you losing focus and stopping again," he muttered when he was sure Yami was all there again.

The taller teen nodded almost imperceptibly, looking slightly lower than his eyes to stare at either his lashes or his cheekbones, and then shifted his position slightly before pulling his fingers away.

Yugi felt strange. It was like Yami had just crumpled in on himself. He had meant it as a joke and yet Yami had taken it seriously and Yugi didn't like it one bit. But he _hated _the fact that Yami had just suddenly become meek, wouldn't make eye contact. The pride that he was so used to seeing was completely gone now and he felt like Yami was waiting for something and it made his chest ache.

When a few minutes passed—Yugi trying to think of something to say and debating that talking might be the wrong idea while Yami remained perfectly still over him, his posture just as meek as it had been when he spoke—Yami finally pressed into him. Yugi tensed immediately, completely taken by surprise, and Yami's eyes rose to his, narrowed and shining with puzzlement, his head tilting to the side once more in question.

Yugi forced himself to relax against the sudden intrusion and Yami seated himself a minute or two later, still going extremely slow for him. The red eyes were on his mouth now and Yugi thought he was going to kiss him again, but then his head turned away and looked at the clock and back. Yugi would have been lying if he said it didn't frustrate him that he had pulled away, but he didn't argue and when Yami's eyes focused on his, Yugi rolled his hips for him.

Yami didn't move right away and Yugi stared at him for a minute before rolling his hips again; when Yami still didn't move, he lost his patience and started rocking against him, making the taller teen burst out laughing. Yugi went red in the face with embarrassment; Yami had set him up, tested his courage to see if he would do it. He couldn't help it when he started laughing with him. Yami's deep laughter spurred him into it.

It felt good to know he would at least tease him in a way that made him want to laugh too. It was definitely a change and he liked it. Yami didn't laugh at his expense and his jokes were ones that he could enjoy himself and laugh about later too.

Yeah, he definitely liked Yami more than he liked Ushio. He was always the butt of every joke the massive senior made and Yugi was so fed up with it but could do nothing as far as physical went. He outsmarted him all the time and Joey and Tristan and Tea always played mediator when they got into a spat because otherwise Ushio would have him for breakfast. Or so they thought anyways. He was actually almost two hundred percent sure that, given the right motivation, Yugi could kick his ass to the US and back if he had the energy.

Yugi had to admit he liked Yami sober like this. Although, then again, he didn't think Yami could do anything funnier than having that intense look of concentration, tongue out and eyes sometimes crossing when he focused too hard in his drunken state. Yugi had actually spent an hour laughing at that at one point, crying and breathing hard for ten minutes after he got his last laugh out. Thirty minutes of those red eyes becoming crossed, thirty minutes of his tongue practically lolling out of his mouth, had become a permanent picture in Yugi's mind.

He couldn't help it when he started snickering, making Yami's eyebrow rise in confusion; Yugi hadn't even realized that they had started a rhythm at some point while he was in his head. Yami's confusion was evident but he was smiling at him and Yugi was relieved he didn't think his laughter was offensive.

"What's so funny?" the taller teen asked, tilting his head.

Yugi shook his head and laughed a little harder. There was no way he was going to speak of this at that moment. How badly would Yami react to that anyways? Would he be mortified or would he laugh at it? And if either happened, would he make a run for it first chance he got?

He liked the arrangement they had going on at the moment and with the flightiness he had already witnessed from him, he couldn't be sure Yami would willingly come around again if he became too mortified and Yugi didn't want to give up on this. It was too much fun for him to let go of.

"Nothing. Nothing, don't worry about it."

"I wasn't _worried _about it. I was just curious." He paused and then narrowed his eyes. "_Should _I be worried? Because I don't think that laughter during sex is a good sign…is it?"

Yugi laughed harder and it came out strange and distorted when it mixed with the moan from Yami pressing into his prostate again with his next thrust. Yugi liked the fact that Yami had perfect recall as far as his prostate went. He liked it—definitely liked it. "No, don't worry about it." He moved a hand to grip at his shoulders and then the other to his arm, still laughing. "I was just…thinking about the look on their faces."

Yugi was well aware that Yami's expression was purely disbelieving but neither of them commented and Yami instead went back to just thrusting again. Yugi liked that he let it fall away so quickly. He was _way _too used to being pushed into explaining. Half the time he couldn't even remember why he was friends with the other three. Although he did know why he was friends with Tea.

They'd been friends since they were four and their parents had always had play dates with them. Somewhere along the line, however, something had changed because they used to be close, much closer, and he had never resented her treating him like a child before. And now he practically hated her for it.

It had started before Yami but it had definitely escalated after they started hanging out. If you could call what they were doing hanging out.

Could you call fucking someone just hanging out?

His stomach started to coil with the now-familiar tightening of his muscles that announced his oncoming orgasm. That was cool, too. Yami didn't try to force him to come by jerking him off. Maybe it was just because he was new to sex…but then so was Yami and yet he still somehow managed to get him to come at relatively close to the same time as he did.

Yugi wondered if he should feel bad for this thing they had going on. He was using him for attention and Yami was using him as a distraction. And he didn't feel bad about it. At all. Not in any way. That seemed so wrong, but at the same time he couldn't find it in himself to truly care. Maybe Yami was the same way or maybe he didn't even realize they were using each other.

He had a feeling he did, but either he just didn't care like Yugi, or he just didn't mind it. Maybe he was really just some kind of pushover and didn't let it show in school. Yugi had no idea but either way, Yami wasn't putting a stop to it and so Yugi wouldn't either.

He didn't notice that his nails had sunk into Yami's skin and Yami's head had lowered to his neck, breathing a little harder due to the pain from the broken skin. Yugi really needed to apologize for that because this was already the second time he'd torn Yami's shoulders open with his nails.

And while Yami didn't complain, his body language was very expressive in the fact that he was not happy with this pain.

His muscles were tightening all over again and Yami started to move a little faster, striking his prostate a little harder. Yugi had a moment where he wondered what he felt like wrapped around Yami like this, because Yami was large—larger than him, and Yugi was not small—and besides that, he always heard about how some of the guys at school wanted to fuck a girl up the ass.

And then of course came the idea of whether or not he would loosen up like a girl's vagina did. He did not like the idea but he didn't feel any different than he had before they started doing this.

He'd felt sore initially upon awakening, but it had been more of an uncomfortable sensation than pain. Initially uncomfortable but later very nice. So Yugi couldn't complain.

Yugi let out a loud moan when he came, and Yami followed him almost a millisecond afterwards. Yugi found it oddly comforting to have Yami's body weight—predominantly kept off him—against his. It was mostly just enough pressure to make him feel the warmth that Yami's body gave him, and it almost made him purr with pleasure.

The blue-violet eyes took in the clock and nearly choked; they'd been fucking for two and a half hours now. That was a pretty big jump, as far as he knew—not that he was an expert on stamina when it came to sex or really stamina at all—to go from one hour to two and a half. It was already eleven.

Yami pulled away from him with a breath and Yugi watched as he rolled over to rest against the backrest and snuggle against him; Yugi wondered if he was supposed to be disgusted by the fact that his own semen coated both of their torsos because of his bottoming. And then there was the fact that Yami was pulling him closer and the liquid was still warm from his body heat. And yet…Yugi _still _could not find it in himself to care.

Although he had to admit he was curious about why neither of them pushed for a shower. His mind was stuck on that thought when he fell asleep; eight hours later Yugi blinked his eyes open and found that Yami was still passed out next to him. Apparently Yami was not much of a light sleeper.

He looked him over for a moment and then smirked. Then he had the idea that maybe Yami was awake but not moving around because he was being nice enough to let Yugi sleep in as long as he wanted to. He snorted at the thought because in all honesty, he could definitely see that happening. It seemed like something the taller teen would do. He looked him over, stared for a long moment, and then smiled a little. Yami was half-awake. Yugi recognized it because Yami's eyelids fluttered but didn't open and his breathing had changed for a split second to rapid rises and falls of his chest before evening out again.

Yugi was used to watching his grandfather for moments like this when he had had his smaller series of strokes when he was still a freshman. He would alert the nurses and they would check up on him.

He squirmed out of Yami's grip and the red-eyed teen's eyes opened into slits, confused, and then closed again. Yugi waited a moment and Yami didn't move, which made him snicker when he realized that the teen still on the couch had fallen back asleep.

And then he frowned. Maybe Yami wasn't sleeping right.

Yugi wandered into the kitchen and got himself a bowl of cereal; halfway through his breakfast, he watched Yami's head poke up from the couch, slow, tired. He watched him move around and grab his clothes, not pausing in his motions even though Yugi knew he knew that he was watching him.

Yami stretched himself out and Yugi watched the muscles in his back roll as his shirt was pulled on over his head. Yami's hair was disarrayed from its usual chaotic gravity-defying spikes but sex hair definitely looked good on the red-eyed teen.

Yugi admired that sex hair for a moment and then smirked before shaking his head and frowning. What the fuck was wrong with him? Why was he admiring _Yami's _sex hair, of all people?

When you hooked up with someone for meaningless sex, release, you weren't supposed to admire them. You were supposed to just look at them and not care. But then, their situation wasn't exactly the most normal in any way.

Nerds were not supposed to be fucking bad boys. Bad boys were supposed to be the ringleaders of fucking every girl at school. They were not supposed to associate with geeks. And if they did, they sure as _hell _were not supposed to let them fuck them and especially not initiate it _or _let it happen more than once. If it happened that once, you never spoke of it. If it happened more than once…it meant something was going on.

That was what Joey told him. If you fucked a girl and it wasn't that great and they tried to brag about it, you denied it. And if the fucking continued, it meant either you liked it and won't admit it, or you have no taste in your fuck buddies.

But then, neither of them was female and Yugi _admitted _to liking Yami fucking him.

Ugh, that word left a bitter taste in his mouth. Should he really be calling it that? It was vulgar, yes, but it was exactly what they were doing. They had no feelings for each other. The hookups were just happening because they wanted to use each other.

It meant nothing else.

"You hungry?"

The words left his mouth before he could even consider saying them.

Yami stopped short and turned his head, surprised, and then shook his head after a moment, pulling his canvas bag on and heading for the stairs. "No, but thank you for your concern."

Yugi shrugged and Yami was gone before he could even lower his shoulders completely.

Geez, that kid was fast.

* * *

Yami was still apprehensive when they got to the shop. He noticed that Yugi did not call out and he did not flip the sign over either; instead his hand was in his and he was being tugged upstairs into Yugi's room. He was about to ask about the project but a single look from the smaller teen warned him against it.

And then he remembered the taunts that they had gotten at school. Someone had called Yugi out on his good grade, called him pathetic and brainless for letting Yami do the whole thing the last time. Of course they hadn't been brave enough to say it to his face but they said it loud enough that when Yami was walking past their table which was right near Yugi's, practically everyone heard it.

Yami had stopped short for a second, blinking, Yugi had looked like he wanted to kill the girl but when he spared a half-assed flicker of his eyes towards their table, not one of them looked like they were going to do or say anything about it. Instead Joey and Ushio were smirking, Tristan was frowning, but Tea…she was watching him with a blatant stare. Yami would have rebutted this himself but one look at Yugi said that if he opened his mouth he would die a very bloody and painful death and despite how much his pride flared with the remark and the resentment towards Yugi's friends made his blood boil, he turned away and headed to his own table. It didn't stop someone from calling him a nerd—albeit playfully—but he ignored it in order to talk to the twins because if he hadn't, with all the dislike and indignation flaring in his system, he might have ended up throwing his food over someone else's head and he couldn't risk drawing attention.

Yami's stomach twisted. Yugi wanted a distraction.

And while Yami hated to be used—it was all he had known his entire life—oddly enough, this time he had no qualms with it.

He could do that if it meant Yugi felt better. After all, he could have very done the same for him when he came to his house drunk. He couldn't remember and if he really did rape him like the voice in the back of his head suspected, he owed him a lot more than just this.

He stiffened when Yugi put his hand down his pants, gripping his penis and pumping once or twice before palming him; Yami nearly panicked for a moment. It had nothing to do with his thoughts but merely the fact that this was the first time anyone had ever touched him like this before except for that one night that Yugi woke him up.

Yugi ignored the stiffening of his companion and instead worked his tongue into his mouth, resorting to pinching his arm when Yami didn't react to him licking his bottom lip. Yugi rolled his eyes behind their lids when Yami didn't immediately react to him and he was a mere second away from pulling back and snapping at him when the minty dark chocolate-flavored muscle started to dance against his. Yugi liked this feeling of control he had in that moment.

Yami was yielding to every one of his advances, letting him push at his lips and dominate his mouth effectively with his tongue. He didn't argue when Yugi started stripping him of his clothes, helping him to do what he wanted. And when Yugi didn't even bother to let him prep him and just hopped onto him, he choked into his mouth.

Yugi stilled himself because the lack of prep had made his ass burn again, and instead just focused on letting himself adjust to Yami's penis inside him. He was just glad that Yami's body was not as naïve as his mind seemed to be and he had hardened while they were kissing, quickened by Yugi's touch when he had taken up pumping and palming him again.

Yugi had to admit that their position was not the best. He hadn't even bothered to let them get further than the foot of the bed and Yami's legs were dangling off the side and Yugi's feet were next to Yami's knees. He had completely dismissed the idea of positioning, straddling him with his knees pressed against Yami's hips.

Yami was staring at him, eyes wide with surprise and blank of any other emotion. Yugi kept his arms around Yami's neck for balance, leaning forward slightly as he moved experimentally. This position, with Yami sitting up and the strange sensation of his feet having no purchase, was awkward and scared him a little.

Yugi had always had a deep fear of heights and it was doubled with the sensation of his feet not touching the ground. And with only Yami to keep him grounded, it was something that made his skin crawl. He hated depending on others. He had depended on his parents and they had left him behind and whenever his grandfather left, half the time he had the thought that he would not come back.

His parents were supposed to love each other. That was the whole point of them being married, right? So then why had they split up when he was only one and a half and dumped him with his grandpa? Yugi only _had _memories of Solomon and none of his parents outside of the—three, maybe four?—visits from them. They only came on his birthday and stayed for only two or three days if he was lucky enough to be graced with their presence at all.

They were his parents and they were supposed to be there for him and outside of financial support—they sent it via a debit card that he could use but never touched—they did nothing for him. His grandfather was literally the only constant in his life outside of Tea and half the time he couldn't even find it in himself to trust them completely. His grandfather was almost never there after he turned twelve—he did not blame him for wanting to do something with his life now that Yugi could practically take care of himself—and Tea's attention was very subjective. He had to meet a certain criteria for her to give him her undivided attention.

But that undivided attention? It was barely worth the crap he had to do in order to get it.

So to have to use Yami as an anchor in order to avoid falling off the bed made his skin crawl and his breathing quicken for a moment. Yugi barely even really _knew _Yami. The most he knew was that he was an only child like him, he had four different cousins that were all male, he was great for partner projects, hated to speak in front of others, and his youngest cousin was in the hospital. Outside of that he truly had no other clue about who Yami was.

That thought actually made his chest hurt. He didn't know Yami. And, oddly enough, he found he really wanted to.

But not today. Today was purely for sex. Purely for distraction.

He bit his lip and then moved again, pulling himself up so that Yami was only inside of him by the tip. The prospect of falling was definitely in the back of his mind and a cynical voice spat at him that Yami might just let him, but when he wavered, Yami's hands were on his hips as they had been when he had first tried this position.

His teeth dug into his cheek with the idea that he could trust him, but it didn't stop him from tightening his grip around Yami's neck, leaning forward into him more and then continuing his movements.

He burned horribly. And he thought that it would never stop but when he paused and waited for it to leave for several minutes, Yami's hands just firm enough to reassure him of holding him there, it faded away. The sensation of panic at the back of his mind, the thought that he would fall over the edge of the bed? That didn't leave.

He didn't know Yami well enough to trust him not to let him fall. The idea made his stomach sink so he pushed it away and instead started to quicken his pace. He couldn't find his prostate no matter how many times he shifted his position and when Yami started with, "I—" he snarled, "Shut up, you talk too much" before the taller teen could get a second word out of his mouth.

He immediately felt bad because Yugi had a feeling he was only going to help him find it, but he was too mad with what had happened at school that he didn't care for it at all. Screw it if he hurt Yami's feelings or whatever. He just was not in the mood to deal with everything.

And Yugi didn't _want _to depend on Yami to find _his _prostate. He should _know _where it was because it was his body. But then that was a stupid idea because he had never once touched himself. So that idea was ridiculous.

Yami turned meek again. His eyes lowered, his head bowed slightly and turned to the side, and he wouldn't look at him. Yugi felt like someone had just driven a pick ax into his chest when he saw that and he would have apologized but then Yami seemed to have pulled out of it just as fast and was now guiding his hips so that he hit his prostate every time.

But he still didn't look up and his head remained as it was, lowered just enough that his hair was only a mere inch from Yugi's face. He started to call him out on it, but then pushed that thought away again immediately. He was not going to be nastier than he already had because obviously he had affected Yami a lot more than he had meant to and the guilt was already there eating away at him.

Yugi had never made grand gestures before so he didn't know what he could do to make Yami feel better and instead just kept going. Yugi didn't last nearly as long as he would have if there hadn't been that tension between them and Yugi just wanting to get his release for the moment, his distraction.

Yami didn't release him until he pulled himself off twenty minutes later, feeling rather disgusted with himself for using the red-eyed teen like this. And it definitely didn't help that Yami was not looking at him even after he took a seat next to him, pulling his pants on again and watching as Yami did the same before wandering off into the bathroom to—Yugi supposed—clean himself off.

Yami turned the faucet on and then grabbed one of the towels hanging on the rack and started wiping the semen off his chest and torso. His head was numb with Yugi's words; if he had spoken too much, why did everyone else say that he talked too little? Was there no balance for him? Either he spoke too much or too little.

And each time he had gotten punished for it. He didn't give enough information or he gave too much and he was sore for days on end with bruises. He was well aware that Yugi was not his father but the way he had said it still made his stomach twist and his instincts told him that he was going to be punished. His head hurt with the thought. His muscles hurt with the tension that had been born with Yugi's words.

He couldn't unclench his jaw no matter how hard he tried and his back was sharp with harsh pain in his spine from the locked muscles. He could practically hear his bones moving beneath his skin and it brought back too many thoughts that made his head swim with massive pain.

He couldn't push it away immediately and it took several tries before it was finally snuffed when he put the towel away to dry and then walked back out, grabbing his shirt and jacket and pulling them back on.

Yugi now had his laptop out on his lap, typing away and acting as if nothing had happened. Maybe it was honestly not worth questioning. Yami found it to be a strange idea but he liked pretending that this had not just happened. He definitely didn't want to associate Yugi with his father in any way, shape or form and ignoring it was effective enough in that aspect.

"So I was thinking that we would do the pharaohs in Egypt," Yugi announced, and just like that, Yami felt something akin to hatred boil beneath his skin; he did not like Yugi anymore. Fuck it all, it was like Yugi was _trying _to make Yami flee.

"Oh?"

It came out slightly rough and Yugi's head snapped up, eyes widening in surprise because Yami's voice had dropped drastically, coming out cold and low and barely audible.

For a full three minutes neither of them spoke, merely staring at each other, and then finally Yugi turned back to his laptop and murmured, "We don't have to but I figured it would be easiest."

They had gotten their sixty-page essay on the general society of Egypt done, a complete overview of it all, but now they needed to pick a subject and do it and from the list pertaining to Egypt, in all honesty, it was either the slaves or the pharaohs and Yami could definitely understand why the pharaohs would be more appealing.

He took a seat and pulled his legs up, kicking his shoes off and going over to him to look over his shoulder at the computer screen. He really didn't want Yugi to find out about Atem the pharaoh because he sure as hell would notice the resemblance—especially when he saw the stupid tablet carving that had both Atem and his…whatever he was, that looked exactly like Seto Kaiba.

Yugi would make the connection. There was no way he wouldn't.

Yami personally hated himself for looking like that fucking seventeen-year-old on the tablet. And he hated the fact that the tablet itself was _in _the museum in _Domino City_. An Egyptian woman named Ishizu Ishtar had brought it with her for whatever reason, brought it to the museum, made a big point of showing off a picture of the Millennium Puzzle that Yami himself owned and kept in his house.

No one had managed to put it together in their family outside of Atem the pharaoh and the artifact was priceless, as was the Millennium Rod that Seto had given Malik when he dismissed his heritage and the Millennium Ring that Bakura wore every now and then beneath his clothes. Ishizu wore the Necklace, someone else had the Anhk and the Scales and the Eye.

So if Yugi were to look up the pharaohs, he'd be able to track him back to Yami himself and Yami definitely did not want this, but Yugi was right in saying that they would find much more on the pharaohs than the slaves, especially considering they needed names of actual people in that time…

"All right. But how about I do the research and you can do the slides?"

Yugi gave him a confused look. The last time they had worked on their project, they had equally split the work up and worked on the slideshows and research together. Yami couldn't blame him for his confusion and he hated that he was practically pushing him away like this, but he couldn't find it in himself to care as much as he should have.

Because if he did this, there was no way he was going back home again and he _needed _to go home. It haunted his dreams, ate away at his subconscious. He wanted to go _home_.

It wasn't a punishment—him being in Japan—but it might as well have been.

Yami didn't hate it in Japan. Far from it, actually. He loved it here. But he missed his parents despite himself. He didn't understand how he could miss them—not at all, in fact—but he did and he missed the sights. He missed everything about home.

His stomach twisted with the thought of going back. He wanted to so badly, but at the same time, he didn't _want _to have to be around his parents, no matter how much he missed them. Not that he didn't seem to have them constantly sticking their noses into his business.

Still a virgin? Are there any cute girls? You should try to get a job at Kaiba Corp—is your cousin hiring? Well I'm sure he'd make a spot just for you if you asked him for one. Grades? How are Bakura and Malik? Oh, they're good? That's great. So, how are you doing in school? Are you at the top of your classes? I didn't raise you be a slacker. You better not disgrace this family. Stay away from any boys who don't look like they have a girlfriend. You never know over there. Don't bring attention to yourself.

Every conversation was the same. Yes, still a virgin—like he was going to tell them he'd gotten with a boy; he'd sooner die. Yes, there are some cute girls but none of them are really my type. No, Seto is not hiring. Yes, he probably _would _open a spot for me if I asked him to. Good. Good. I'm doing well in school. Yes, I am at the top of my classes—in fact I'm called a geek because I've got high grades. No, you did not raise me to be a slacker. I will not disgrace the family, I promise. I don't have any guy friends except for one and I don't hang out with him. Yeah, I guess so. Will not bring attention to myself, thank you for fucking reminding me. Goodbye.

He could recite every conversation they had ever had since he had gotten into Japan because it was practically just a constant cycle of repeated questions and scolding and remarks. And he answered the same every time. He wondered if his parents realized that or not.

He honestly didn't think they did or they might have called him out on his bored tone every time he spoke to them. His mother probably thought he was depressed or tired every time they spoke. And his father was just digging for things he did wrong so that he could use them to bury barbs into him.

Yugi was still staring at him in pure confusion that was slowly changing into slight suspicion. "I guess so. Why?"

"Because that way it will be easier," Yami lied effortlessly. "And besides, you're better with computer graphics than I am."

That was true. Yami had never actually _been _exposed to technology for the most part. He had had to pick up where his mind didn't comprehend and he'd had to do it all in three weeks—fourteen years' worth of technology drilled into his head just before ninth grade began and he had to blend in with everyone else.

His parents had said on more than one occasion that technology was a waste of time and would ruin his brain and so had forbade him from being around it whatsoever. Instead he was kept under lock and key with his parents' constant guidance and supervision.

"Yeah, but if we split up the research—"

"I know that it means you can just pick and choose what you want to put on the slides," Yami spat. "I _was _there when we did our last project, Yugi."

The smaller teen bristled. "Okay, you know _what_? If you're being pissy about what happened a few minutes ago—"

"It was thirty minutes ago and no, that's not why I'm pissy. You just aren't listening to me."

"If I wasn't listening I wouldn't be arguing, now would I Yami? I have to listen to what you're saying in order to be able to make an argument with you."

"Semantics are bullshit, Yugi."

"Semantics are the grounds of society."

"Whatever. Just let me do the research and you can do the slideshow. Let's just stick to what we're _good _at, shall we?"

"Are you saying I can't take good notes?"

"No. That's what you just said."

Yugi glared at him angrily. "You piss me off so badly."

"And you make me want to wring my own neck in order to avoid your presence."

"…That's a little fucked up."

"But it's also the truth." He snorted and looked at the laptop. "When does your grandfather get back?"

That was a wild change of subject that didn't go unnoticed but Yugi decided to indulge him. "Another week."

"So what do you guys do to keep in touch? Video chatting? Phone calls?"

"All of the above and texts."

"Well, that must be nice, right? He keeps you updated."

Yugi stared at him and the single word came stretched out and suspicious. "Yeah." What the hell was Yami getting at? And why did he look slightly pale, like he was up to something and extremely nervous about being caught?

"Does he ever ask about your grades and stuff?"

What the hell kind of question was that?

"Not really. Why?"

_Just wanted to see _just_ how unnatural my family really is_, Yami thought wryly, shaking his head. "No reason. Just curious."

"What's with the sudden interest about my grandpa? And family is supposed to be off limits, remember?"

Yami was silent for a long time. "My parents always ask about my grades—every night. And they don't bother to talk to me unless it's by the phone." His answers, his voice, came out cold and calculating. "And I only ask because I was curious about it."

Yugi looked at the screen and chewed his cheek. "I'm sorry."

"Doesn't matter. Sorry doesn't mean anything," Yami replied, grabbing the smaller boy's laptop from his lap and starting up the internet.

"Where are your parents?"

Yami's entire body went rigid for one split second and then he was in an expressionless yet oddly relaxed-looking posture. "They travel a lot," he lied, shrugging. "They're always moving around so I never know where they are."

"They don't take you with them when they travel?"

"Apparently it would have messed with my schooling."

"I guess that's a pretty big deal in your family huh?"

Yami wasn't stupid so he didn't ask why he would say that; he had just told him, after all. Instead he let out an affirmative hum of "Mm" that made Yugi frown at him in response, the smaller teen's teeth digging into his bottom lip.

"Look, if I said something to you earlier—"

"Seriously, Yugi, don't _bother _apologizing."

"But—"

"It doesn't fucking _matter_. I don't care and I sure as hell don't care for an apology. Be sorry all you want to but don't waste my time and yours verbalizing it."

Yugi's mouth fell open in shock, eyes wide, and Yami ignored him pointedly, at his patience's end with this conversation. He should have known better than to bother even trying small talk. For whatever reason, they always ended up at each other's throats.

"All right…fine," Yugi finally muttered, still looking and sounding dazed when he turned away and stared at the laptop.


	6. The Pulse

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Note: Story will be updated every Wednesday**

**Warning: TONS of cursing throughout story**

**Chapter Warning: Chapter is rated MA (Mature Adult) for sexual content (lemon)**

**Lemon Warning: If you want to skip the lemon, don't read until the statement "I didn't know if you wanted cream cheese or peanut butter or what so I just put butter on there". If you don't think you're going to remember that, use F and Ctrl and use the Find function to skip to there. **

**Lemon Note: The lemons actually DO serve a purpose, though, so yeah, I didn't just write it and post it without a reason...**

**Sexual Situation Warning: There is a highly sexual moment in chapter that I suppose could be a lime. Either way, it starts at "But I would rather _show _you how much I like you. Would you let me?" and ends at the second part of chapter.**

Chapter VI: The Pulse

It was only after Yugi asked again why Yami wanted to do all the research himself that he realized the subject was not about to be dropped and it irritated him to no end. Yugi stared at him curiously the entire time and Yami was fed up with him. They'd just spent two hours talking and revising their sixty-page essay on a general overview of Egypt and they'd made over twenty punctuation corrections and read it between them at least five times before they put it away again. As soon as Yugi had closed the Word Document with their essay, he was once again questioning him and Yami almost wanted to wring his neck. Why could the boy not just take his suggestion for what it was and let it go?

Yugi kept poking at it. He hadn't been direct at first, skirting around it, letting pharaohs slip into the conversation once or twice—Yami had effectively shut him down without so much as a glance in his direction by veering straight into the document again—but now, after two hours, he had obviously lost his patience and was awaiting an answer.

One that Yami had no plans on giving him.

"Because, I can get the research done easily. It shouldn't matter how we split the work up, should it?"

"Yes, it should, because we split the other one between us easily."

"So what? Maybe I want to see if this will work as well."

"Yeah? Well, maybe I don't."

"Yeah?" Yami sneered, losing all patience and glaring at him angrily. "Well, maybe I don't give a fuck what you want."

"That's great, because I don't give a fuck what you want either."

Both of them glared at each other for a moment and then the tension between them started changing. First they were glaring and then they were starting to breathe a little differently, almost panting. And then Yami's tongue was in his mouth again and Yugi was practically trembling with delight.

He had to push him away, which made Yami stare at him in confusion, to put the laptop back on his desk, and then he was all the taller teen's again. He still looked slightly confused but that was quickly gone when Yugi leaned towards him again; when he gripped at Yami's jacket, licking his lips once before pressing the moist, soft mouth against the taller teen's, Yami was completely levelheaded again. He ended up fighting off any thoughts in his head and let him get lost in the sensation of the way Yugi worked his tongue against his.

Yugi wrapped his arms around his neck and there was this strange sensation of tingles that ran through his system and then, slowly, it turned into a steady pulse like a heartbeat, warm and moving through his body heatedly. It was strange and different and he loved it, wanted more of it, feeling his entire body grow to a very comfortable heat that made everything in him pulsate at a point that felt entirely foreign but beautiful at the same time.

Stripping him of his jacket and t-shirt, Yugi ran his hands up and down his exposed flesh and began to grind his body against his, reveling in the way that Yami bared his teeth slightly and a moan passed from behind them. The growl came out a second later when Yugi ground himself hard against Yami's growing erection, the noise startling both of them for a split second before Yugi pushed into him harder and faster, his hips rolling with the effort and his body feeling desperate for more.

He moved his legs to press his knees into the other boy's hips, holding him tightly in this way and moving himself even faster. Yami's jaw set as Yugi ran his tongue over his lips and used his fingers to tip the taller teen's head up so that he could press their foreheads together. The red eyes were open and deep, like twin pools of lava and the smaller teen realized that for the first time, the gaze was perfectly open, letting him swim in the depths just as he might very well drown in his own.

The nimble fingers pulled his zipper down, sneaking his hands into his pants and pressing his palms lightly into his flesh before starting to ease the jeans down his hips, his teeth lightly biting into Yugi's lips, licking a moment later and then kissing again. Yugi moaned softly into his mouth as Yami's hands started touching him everywhere, as if trying to memorize his skin, possessing him. The kiss changed a little and Yugi found it oddly mesmerizing how his lips hardened in their pursuit of his in only seconds, charging against his as his tongue batted his down in a show of dominance.

Yugi actually loved this. Any other time and he thought he might have been upset with the thought of someone overpowering him like this, but it was oddly nice to feel Yami at this rougher rhythm. He wanted to lose his skin, his soul, his mind, his being, if only to feel this again, like he was alive—so much more alive than he had ever felt before in all sixteen years of his life.

When Yami raised his hands above his head, Yugi found it almost impossible to keep moving anymore because suddenly those red eyes were so close that they were all the smaller teen could see. In that single moment Yami was literally all-encompassing, leaning forward to press kisses on Yugi's mouth but not once releasing his hold on him, rendering him unable to close his eyes. Strange and ragged pants emptied in the air between them in sync, quickening as Yugi pulled his arms back down to start on Yami's pants in a desperation that made his fingertips shake.

Sparks of lightning burning of fire and refreshing like ice pulsed through him wildly as the taller teen's tongue twisted around Yugi's almost as if the muscle was a live wire, the air between them seeming to vibrate with the energy that pulsated through them. Yami pulled his arms back over his head and pulled away in one quick movement, his grip warm but loose against his wrists even as the backs of his hands pressed against the cool wood of his headboard and his head tipped to the side, stretching himself out like a cat to keep his hips away from the smaller boy's, settled on his haunches as his right hand pressed against his soft stomach.

With his jeans down at his knees and his hands restrained, Yugi had no real option of movement beyond his head and hips which he tried to utilize in a struggle of thrusting them against Yami's lap. But every time he got remotely close Yami would use his right hand to push him back with the single difference in his facial features being the slight narrowing of his eyes as he shook his head slowly, as if he was thinking hard about something and Yugi was distracting him.

Yami really wasn't sure why he was doing this, holding him like this, but Yugi was not arguing and he had yet to see him squirm aside from trying to impale himself again, which Yami was trying to prevent because Yugi obviously had not felt that great initially when he did this only a couple of hours ago.

Yugi kept squirming and trying to get him inside of him, but then whined when he seemed to remember the boxers he still wore, glaring at Yami who smirked against his lips and then pulled his underwear down, teasing him with gentle fingers and smirking wider. He pressed his fingers into his hip several times, lightly ghosting his digits down his pelvis to his erection and lightly touching it for a few moments before pulling his boxers down completely to join his jeans.

Yugi hissed as the sudden cold air he was exposed to and Yami chuckled against his mouth but pulled him into another kiss, his tongue once again wrapping around his with that sparking ice cold blazing hot fire that he somehow invoked in him. A tremble passed through him and his erection leaked with pre-cum, rimming him with his index finger and then lightly pressing his nail into the ring of his muscle, making Yugi gasp into his mouth.

But it did its job. Yugi relaxed impossibly and Yami pressed his fingertip inside of him before getting the first joint of his finger, watching Yugi immediately for any pain or tension, but the blue-violet-eyed sixteen-year-old showed none because he didn't feel the need to tense and Yami got his finger all the way to the knuckle. Yugi was definitely happier with the sensation of Yami prepping him because it didn't make his entire lower back burn.

Yami got his second finger in and Yugi was somewhat stunned by the fact that he didn't once look away from his eyes. The smaller teen was confused by the pulsing sensation growing tenfold in his body, now in time with the pump of Yami's fingers. He could feel the taller teen's fingers moving and changing position, watched as Yami pulled back slightly from him, his teeth digging into his cheek before smirking when Yugi moaned as the two fingers pressed into his prostate and excitement burst through his system.

He purred as Yami continued moving and then bucked, banging his head against the headboard hard enough to make it whine and the wood to hit the plaster behind it, surprising the red-eyed teen who's gaze widened drastically with the suddenness of the action. "Yami…" He really hated the idea of begging, but he couldn't help it at the moment. There was something about the red-eyed teen that made his heart pound harder and it was confusing to him but he couldn't stop it—not that he wanted to. "Please…"

"Don't beg," he murmured, licking his lips and nipping his lip with a small bite that made Yugi impossibly more excited, distracting him from Yami's third finger that pumped several times and then pulled away as Yugi moaned and then squirmed, wanting them back. "Not for this."

He might have been seeing things—in fact he was pretty sure he was—but the eyes in front of him shown with a clear desperation, something strange that swirled with a dense cloud of lust and something vicious like that of roaring flames. But the desperation, Yugi recognized, was yearning. Yami was yearning for something badly and Yugi had no idea what it was or if he would ever tell him.

"What do you want?"

He didn't think he could give it to him, not in any way, but he still asked because the desperation made his skin tingle and his heart pound faster, that pulse throbbing with heat as it traveled through his system.

For a moment Yami did not respond, his eyes growing a little narrower in expression, but slowly he released his wrists in order to hook his right index under Yugi's choker and press his lips against his softly, kissing him again before nipping his bottom lip and pulling his top, nibbling on the tender flesh as if he were contemplating something. For a moment his right hand touched his face, thumbed just beneath his nose and passed against the edge of his mouth. With the rush of blood that passed through his freed hands, Yugi found himself startled by the sensation of Yami's left hand finding its way to his chest, pressing over his heart momentarily before it moved away to press into his right hip, pinning him to the bed. For a moment Yugi did nothing but allow Yami to touch him, curiosity burning its way through his system as thoughts of whether Yami yearned for that connection again just as he did or if he wanted this for another reason entirely.

Was it possible that the want in his eyes was for the deeper physical sensation that their joined bodies brought him? Yugi himself craved it, especially after his own disgusting release hours ago; he hadn't felt that connection whatsoever then, though the sensation of falling had sufficiently made up for that.

Yugi lifted his knee and managed to slip his right leg out of his jeans and did the same with his left, shedding his clothes to the ground with an easy kick and reveling in the way that Yami did not once take his eyes away, the red gaze sparking with several different emotions that he couldn't read.

He pressed his knee into his hip and the cloud that coated Yami's eyes thickened before they suddenly cleared and drew him forth, threatening to drown him in their essence of dark ruby, warm and deep and rich in depth.

"Please, Yami."

The hoarse words were said against his lips, and he wrapped his arms around his neck, struggling to keep their foreheads against each other. For whatever reason, he felt that Yami could not break eye contact. Not once. Not for a single second. Yugi felt it when Yami pushed his boxers down, his erection long and smooth and hot against his tummy, leaking with pre-cum and heating his flesh warmly and leaving him squirming with the new touch.

Yami didn't respond immediately, blinking once, and then murmured his words from earlier, "What do you want?" with his head tilted slightly to the side and his eyes narrowed in question as the ruby shade grew a little deeper in color.

He tilted his head in confusion, wondering at this question, finding himself drowning in it momentarily before shaking it off and squirming to which Yami took the hint and grabbed his hips, positioning him before lowering him gently until he was sheathed inside of him; Yugi moaned softly, surprised out of his mind when Yami growled against his neck, his fingers suddenly working at the buckle of his choker and pulling the piece of leather from his neck, biting his flesh. It was not gentle but it was not harsh either and Yugi's legs clamped around his hips, eyes wide in shock.

A hand snaked up into his hair, rubbing gently at the nape before massaging with the tips of his fingers, kneaded at the flesh with his palm. It was gentle and apologetic, a clear gesture of "sorry for the bite" in which his teeth were still clamped around his skin, not breaking the delicate flesh and his tongue pressing flat against it. Yugi found the assault of his senses to be exciting and terrible all at once, moaning at the sensation.

The sound of their skin slapping together echoed around the room and Yugi moaned harder every time he hit his prostate and when Yami finally pulled his mouth from his flesh, he felt the hand that had been massaging the nape of his neck go into his hair, cradling his scalp for a moment before massaging again.

It was strange but the relentlessness of Yami's thrusts, never faulting in rhythm, was some kind of statement of how well they seemed to understand each other despite their constant arguments. It was different that Yami was doing this _for _him because normally no one would ever be willing to do something like this for him of all people. It was like some kind of truth between them, emotions in their purest sense. It was harsh, intense, a demanding situation that demanded satiation. They didn't even need words. It was as if it was in their blood and bones, a part of them that only reacted when around the other.

He had to brace himself against Yami's shoulders to keep his position, the pulse that existed between them growing tenfold as fire tumbled through his system and coated Yami's body, the smaller boy whimpering when he went another four thrusts before following his lead, his face finding solace in the crook of his neck again. Yugi panted as Yami breathed against his neck which throbbed in a strange rhythm of pleasure and pain from his bite. His hands, warm and yet cold at the same time, caressed his sides.

"Yugi," he muttered, pressing his smooth soft cheek against his neck, the bite mark, an act of soothing that made Yugi tremble with pleasure. "Fuck, I'm sorry." His hands went from his sides to his hips to pull him off his lap, settling him back down onto the comforter and kissing his neck. He was trembling against him, sweaty.

"I don't know why I did that. I'm not like this…"

Yugi rubbed at his back lightly, too tired to speak despite Yami's face lowering to take place against his chest, lips against his skin just above his heart. For a long five minutes he had to catch his breath and think and then murmured, "I know. You aren't going to hurt me."

_I do that enough for both of us_.

"Good." Yami hugged him tightly for a moment and Yugi listened to a few more small whispered apologies for the bite he had given him. Yugi touched at the skin and found that while it was throbbing it did not hurt, not truly, and touching it was not painful in any way. When he hugged Yami back, his lips pulled back into a small smirk.

The throbbing wasn't pain. It hadn't been pain at all. It was a mixture of pleasure and that pulse that had coursed through him the entire time they had started fucking.

The next morning at six-thirty-six a.m.—he got up and made some breakfast without waking the other boy who he _knew_ was getting up only five minutes after he got situated at the table—Yugi handed him the bagel. "I'm straight," he muttered, the words an effort to remind himself now that he couldn't stop thinking about almost everything.

Yami took it from him and stared at it for a moment before taking a bite out of the blueberry breakfast pastry—he guessed that was what it was anyways—to taste the butter that was warm and melted into it the bread. The blueberries nearly melted in his mouth and he almost wanted to cry. He hadn't eaten bagels in such a long time it was insane. "So am I," he answered as soon as he swallowed and then started eating again just as quickly.

Yugi looked at him curiously and murmured, "I didn't know if you wanted cream cheese or peanut butter or what so I just put butter on there."

He honestly wasn't sure why he bothered to tell him that when Yami very obviously was not paying attention to him in the first place and looked beyond happy with the bagel he was munching on. He looked like a happy dog that had just gotten a treat. It was both terribly unnerving and oddly satisfying at the same time. Yugi swallowed hard for a moment, watching him eat his bagel with that same happy-dog expression, and then went back to eating his cereal though he couldn't help looking up several times.

What was with him? Had he never had a bagel before? Or maybe he was just that crazy about blueberries. Yugi nearly choked on his own laughter and cereal with that thought and Yami's head snapped up very suddenly to look at him, confused.

Yugi waved a hand dismissively and shook his head, turning back to his cereal bowl. From the corner of his eye he saw Yami looking at his bagel and then eating it faster before a very low, muffled by food, voice came out and said, "Thank you. See you later, Yugi" before Yami vanished. Yugi looked after him with a reciprocated goodbye that he didn't think Yami heard, and then started eating his cereal again.

He had expected Yami to leave as soon as he was done eating but he had partly expected him to flee _before _he even got to eat.

The bite mark had faded overnight, of course, but he didn't truly care at any point, tilting his head as he took another bite of cereal. Why was it that he allowed Yami to sink his teeth into his neck like that or even fucking stick his tongue down his throat every other time they were together? It made no sense considering the fact that he was always into Tea in the first place. It made no sense that he was willing to let him continue after that night he got drunk. Then again, he was still unsure of why he let that happen in the first place. Was it really the attention that he sought from Yami or was it something else entirely? Was it possible he was one of those late bloomers when it came to sexuality?

He knew that most gay guys, if they didn't want to admit it or otherwise, would date girls before they would finally hook up with a guy. Was that what this was? Except, kind of in reverse? He had hooked up with a guy while always having had a crush on a girl from his childhood. Could that still be applied to everything? Could he be gay? Is that why this kept happening?

Because every time he was around Yami, all he could possibly think about was sex. It was always sex. It lingered in his subconscious even when he tried to focus on the projects they were working on. He would force himself to pay attention to his work in order to avoid that little thought that kept snaking up into his mind about Yami naked. It was sickening, in all actuality. He didn't know what to do about it all and it made his stomach hurt. So perhaps he was gay.

Yugi didn't find Yami until third period in which Yami spent the entire time doing his worksheet while the rest of the class continued talking about stupid stuff when the teacher left the room after handing it out to them. Joey copied off his sheet the entire time and Yugi hated him in that instant for doing so, somehow avoiding Joey's notice every time that he glanced at the red-eyed teen.

Yami didn't look up for the longest time but when he finally did, Yugi found himself going rigid with surprise. It was a blank stare, head tilted slightly to the side, but it was the fact that images, ideas, unrealistic sexual positions flooded his mind upon their eyes locking that made him freeze like this.

Joey looked up and snatched his paper while he was distracted, copying it while Yugi was unable to look away. The blond didn't notice the way that Yugi had frozen or that he was not looking at him despite his blunt action of taking the worksheet from him.

The red eyes were scarlet now, curious. Yugi only knew the shades of red after looking them up online; it was rather embarrassing to think about the fact that he could not stay asleep one night after meeting Yami and had somehow ended up looking up the shades of red after ten minutes of rolling around in bed.

He really wished he could have said something to the red-eyed teen. It was insane how badly he wanted to talk to him, but he would never live it down if he didn't do it when the others weren't immediately around him. And with Joey right next to him…

Neither of them looked away for a long time and then finally Yami turned away because the teacher had appeared behind the door; he made a single gesture with his finger towards Yugi who snatched his sheet back from Joey when the teacher started walking back into the room.

Yami's lips twitched into a smirk as the rest of the class froze, went quiet, and then scrambled to start on their worksheets only to find that the period was only a minute away from conclusion.

Yugi didn't get to talk to him until lunch and found him outside the library doors, talking to one of his teachers about something that Yugi just barely caught wind of being his homework assignments for the next week so that he could do them early because he wasn't going to have enough time for it that week for something family related.

His teacher did not look pleased and Yugi listened to her say that he had done this exact same thing not two months ago to which he watched with a dazed expression as Yami's head suddenly tilted and his eyes became smoldering and hypnotizing, searing into hers as he said he was sorry for the inconvenience but he really wished that she would help him with this because otherwise he would not be able to give her his homework assignments until the week after because he truly could not do the next week's worth of work until his family emergency was taken care of.

Yugi stared at him in shock at that statement and the way the teacher seemed to melt into his gaze and nodded at him slowly before agreeing wholeheartedly; as soon as she was gone, he turned away, rolling his eyes, and then froze when he spotted him, eyes widening in surprise.

The blue-violet-eyed boy gave him a smirk and Yami grinned lazily before opening the door of the library for him. "So, I guess you saw that, huh?"

"Yeah, you're a real smooth talker, huh?"

Yami's eyebrow rose and he was smirking playfully when he joked, "That's how I normally get in your pants, right?" in a low voice that Yugi barely heard as he passed him, his face lighting up when he realized that could have been a joke or a dig at his "status" as a "sex slave" and finding himself unsure of what to respond with before turning around and jumping backwards when he found himself face to chest with Yami.

Yugi stared at him with wide eyes for a moment, taking in the amused look on Yami's face, and then laughed lightly, running a hand through his hair in embarrassment. Yami being right behind him had scared the everlasting shit out of him.

"About that…" he breathed, glancing over his shoulder and making sure that no one was close enough to hear them talking; Yami raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. "I have to ask you something."

His eyes narrowed drastically, darkening dangerously. "Shoot."

Yugi glanced around again and then led the way over to the farthest table in the back, sitting down and glancing around again to see that no one was around. "First, um, what were you doing coming in here anyways? I mean, we weren't supposed to be meeting today."

"I was going to check out a couple of books," he admitted, gesturing to the lack of items he had carried in; Yugi felt momentarily stupid for not having noticed that before. "What were you doing in here?"

He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times and then looked down at the table, a small line of pink appearing on his cheeks that was just barely noticeable due to the way he lowered his head. "I came to find you so I could talk to you."

"Well, here I am. So what was it you needed?" he asked, turning around and looking at the small bookcase behind him and looking the selection over; it was several different languages—English, French, Spanish…and most of them were small picture books. His eyebrows shot up. Why the hell were they in there?

"Have you ever…err…" He clamped his front teeth into his bottom lip and thought of how he was supposed to approach the subject; when Yami finally turned his head and stared, waiting, Yugi found that the look in his eyes was rather comforting and gave him the answer to his question. "Have you ever wondered if maybe you were gay?"

The patient, expectant look died away immediately. His stomach dropped. His heart froze. Both of them stared at each other, Yugi feeling sick to his stomach as he realized that Yami had somehow gone mentally comatose without even so much as more than a small gleam that entered his eyes, turning them completely blank and dead, emotionless and haunted.

Yugi was a second away from throwing up in shock at that expression. His stomach twisted and coiled and bile rose up in the back of his throat, burning a path and making his head hurt for a moment. He hadn't meant to hurt him but it was pretty obvious that he had somehow managed to do just that.

"I'm not gay," Yami answered quietly, his voice coming out cold and dangerous. "I'm not."

He was relatively sure that Yami would not hurt him—especially since they were in school—but the expression on his face made him want to crawl in a hole somewhere. He'd seen that expression on sociopaths in movies and to see it up close made his heart pound in his chest, making his head spin as he swallowed hard.

"There's nothing wrong with—"

"Yes, there is!" Yami snarled back, his voice vicious and low, ringing with a threat that was only half noticeable under his anger. "Homosexuality is not—I'm not gay. I can't be gay…"

"Can't?" he echoed, confused. "What? Why not? It's not even a big deal, Yami. It's fine to be gay."

"_No,_ Yugi, it's _not_."

"Yes it—"

"You don't understand anything!" he snapped darkly, eyes blazing as they locked with the blue-violet gaze of the stunned teenager in front of him. "I cannot be gay. I _can't_. There's no way in fucking hell that I am _gay_."

"What are you? Homophobic? That's kind of hypocritical considering."

"You understand nothing!"

"You're right. I don't understand anything. So why don't you explain?"

"I can't—"

"Can't _what_?" Yugi asked, confused and annoyed all at once by the way he said this. "Can't _explain _or can't be gay? But then why _can't _you? What's so wrong with it? You've already acted—"

"_Shut_. Up."

He froze when the words came through his teeth, barely audible and dripping with hatred. He blinked once and the red eyes narrowed furiously as a small tremor went through his body; he was about to ask what was wrong with him because he'd never seen Yami do that before, but then he could heard mumbling, barely audible, so quiet he almost didn't catch it.

"My parents are going to kill me. By Ra, they're going to kill me. I'm dead."

Yugi furrowed his brows.

"Dad will beat me within half an inch of my life and then he'll disown me immediately after. I'll be dead to the rest of the world. I'll have nothing after high school. Mom and Dad are going to cut me off completely. I will lose everything."

"Wait, what?"

Yami got up so fast he fell backwards, hitting the ground on his back against the hard wood of the chair he had been sitting in; he let out a small gasp of pain and saw that Yami was watching him briefly with a concerned expression before his eyes turned dark with anger and hatred.

"I'm not gay," he spat viciously, turning on his heel and walking off while Yugi managed to roll over and get back up, telling the concerned librarian who came over that he was okay and that no, Yami did not push him, he just fell, that yes, it was an accident.

He hurried to put the chair back upright and started after the taller red-eyed teen but just as he got out of there, just as his eyes settled on the boy who was already halfway down the hall, the bell rang and the hall was alive with movement as students all flooded out. He tried to catch up but lost sight of him in the mass of bodies, leaving him terribly confused. What was wrong with him? What did he mean that his parents would disown him? What did he mean that he would be dead to the world?

And what the fuck was "Ra"?

He wrinkled his nose. Did Yami just mention a Duel Monsters card? What the hell?

"Yami."

The boy nearly didn't stop, disgusted with himself and confused and feeling sick to his stomach, but then a thought jumped into his head and he slowly turned around to regard the brunette who pushed her way through a couple of lines of students to see him. She stopped in front of him and Yami tilted his head slightly to the side before dragging his eyes up and down her frame slowly.

Yes, he could definitely find something that drew his attention. Tea was not ugly. She was not fat. She was curvy…well, if the skirt made any indication, anyways. If he remembered correctly, she had a nice ass—he only knew this from PE in which Joey and Tristan had decided to mess around with the girls while the coach was off talking to someone else in class; they had used a plank of wood that they were using to repair part of the roof where a light had fallen to lift her skirt up and had given literally _everyone _a very nice view of white panties on a round ass before she attacked them.

Yes, he remembered it because Mana had gasped and pointed and Yami had stared merely because he couldn't understand the point of this whole thing, not the least bit interested in any of the three of them and utterly bored as the brunette beat the crap out of them _with _the wood. And he remembered it because Tea had looked around to make sure that he had _not _seen and had gone so completely red that it rivaled his eyes and she and Miho had taken off running before the coach returned his attention to them.

"Hello," he greeted, unconsciously polite as always but definitely working to duplicate the smooth alluring edge that coated his words. "Tea."

She blushed slightly at the tone of his voice, husky, dripping with a small edge of something sultry. "Hi."

He waited a moment but she seemed too lost in her own debate of what to talk to him about now that she had gained his attention, and he merely circled his newest idea around in his head in the meantime. "You know, I never really noticed…but you're really beautiful."

Her face lit up to a shade equal to his eyes.

But she couldn't read his eyes.

Because she didn't know him.

And that was definitely the advantage that Yami used.

Tilting his head and lowering his voice slightly, rendering his eyes smoldering and warm, endless in fiery depth, he murmured, "I bet you get told that all the time, right?"

She blushed a warmer shade of scarlet. "Only sometimes."

"Doesn't your boyfriend tell you that all the time?" he pressed.

"Boyfriend?"

"Yeah, I thought you and Yugi were going out."

He was so jaded.

Everything was so twisted.

When did he become so fucked up?

Maybe it was just in his genes.

He smirked wryly at the thought. That would explain so much.

Tea blinked and then frowned before shaking her head slowly, her short brown hair bouncing with the movement. "Yugi? I'm not dating Yugi."

Yami forced himself to blink once in a long and slow movement that made him look confused, tilting his head again. "You're not? But you guys seem so close…"

"He's my best friend. But I don't feel that way about him."

"Oh. Well, then," he murmured, smiling like the Cheshire cat as his sharp eyes darkened with the slight lowering of his eyelids. "I guess that makes sense. I mean, you did flirt with me before."

Obviously, the comment that he _knew _she had flirted with him was surprising for her. Her azure eyes widened and then blinked and she blushed slightly but not enough to really draw attention to it before smiling shyly. "I didn't think you had noticed."

"Of course I did. How could I not notice someone as beautiful as you?"

He was a monster and he was going to hell.

She flushed fully this time, her heart-shaped face turning bright red at the compliment, her cheeks warm with the blood pooling beneath her skin. Her eyes shown with delight at the attention he granted her and again he was reminded of Yugi, of how he craved attention he really shouldn't.

It almost brought a scowl to his face but he battled it off before it could mar his features. "If I had known you weren't with him, I would have definitely asked you out before now," he murmured softly, warmly, his voice lilting and dark with lust that didn't truly exist.

"R-really?"

Was it just him or had her breath hitched?

Yami nodded and smiled brightly at her, the fluorescents making his perfect white teeth gleam with the small bit of saliva that coated them. He tilted his head to just the right angle, to which his bangs fell and framed his face in a way that made him look adorable, beautiful and alluring in all the right ways.

Maybe his mother had taught him something useful after all.

She was trapped, and he knew that. Her eyes grew wide and the faint pink of a blush coated her cheeks as her lips twitched into the beginnings of a smile that shouldn't exist…

"You still can…"

"I could," he agreed softly before looking over his shoulders once and then twice and slowly giving her a wide smile that made his eyes brighten in false lighting. "But I would rather _show _you how much I like you. Would you let me?"

A tremor of lust coursed down her spine and maybe it was hormones or maybe she was just this desperate, but a single nod of her head and she was following him outside and to the back of the school; luckily there were no lunches after their lunch period and there were no people outside at the moment because suddenly she was pressed into the bricks and a mouth, warm and dark and unyielding, was against hers, kissing with a bruising force behind it.

A tongue that tasted of honey—Yami remembered that treat because he had indulged in it a year before when he went with his cousins out to eat—met his. It tasted all wrong and when his hands grabbed at her hips, the skirt frustrated him to no end. His brain, annoyed and scathing in its argument of how wrong it all was, struggled to grasp the concept of it before he remembered that all he had to do was move his hands up her legs.

Not complicated like pants.

But too complicated for a boy who had only ever fucked another boy.

He nearly hated himself with that thought, rolling his eyes in frustration at his stupidity, not bothering to think it through before he snaked his hand up her inner thigh. She shifted a little, a small quiver of something—fear, maybe?—rushing up the skin beneath his long digits.

"W-wait," she breathed, pulling her mouth away from his and staring at a pair of red eyes that blazed into hers as he pulled his hand away from her; she couldn't read his expression because she didn't know him well enough and mistook it for lust rather than the frustration it really was. "I don't…I'm not…"

"You're still a virgin," he murmured, shrugging. "So what?"

"I've never…"

Yami waited for a long minute for her to finish the statement but when she didn't his eyes narrowed. "Never what? Been kissed? Touched? What?"

She flushed and bowed her head a little, obviously terribly embarrassed.

Yami rolled his eyes. Girls were so full of drama. No wonder he liked fucking a boy. Yugi got off on fighting with him and girls just quivered in fear and acted like the most normal thing was something to be so ashamed of.

Of course she was still a virgin. Of course she had not been kissed yet. Of course she had not been touched yet.

And that was hardly news to him anyways. She wanted him, he did not want anyone. She refused Yugi's advances in favor of ones that should never have transpired. She was only sixteen. Of course she made stupid decisions. Of course she held out. Of course she was letting this happen.

"That's okay," he cooed, deciding to play sweet and charming with a dash of heat rather than needy and full of false lust like he really was. "I won't hurt you. I can make it so pleasurable that you'll wonder why you never did this before."

She blushed and her tongue snaked out to lick lips that tasted of strawberry. "I…r-really?"

He nodded and went to say something more but she cut him off.

"Y-you're not…oh. Um…when did you…?"

"When did I lose my virginity?"

She nodded again and a small blush bloomed on her cheeks before growing tenfold as he watched her silently.

One month for the project that they initially had their first hookup after Mokuba got hit by the car, one month in between that project and this one. So, technically, this was the third month he had been disgusting and shameful…

"Three months ago."

He went with the truth because she at least deserved that much from him.

The disgusting vile creature that was Yami.

"O-oh."

He nodded. "It's not that big a deal, Tea. I mean, I lost mine when I was drunk, but still," he murmured, feeling a little sick as he thought over the details of what he should or shouldn't say, watching her closely. "If you want to stop, we can. Just tell me if it feels uncomfortable."

She bit her lip and he wondered vaguely how the hell she could even handle the sickening taste of lip gloss coating her mouth. Gods, it was on his mouth now too. He could taste it without even licking his lips; it was smothered into his mouth from the way he had assaulted hers moments before, their lips awkward in their clash, his mouth open and coaxing hers.

"O-okay. I g-guess that's okay."

He nodded and licked his lips and that disgusting taste assaulted his senses but he fought it off in favor of leaning forward and kissing her in a gentler manner, throwing away his frustration in place of gentle coaxing. She seemed to melt in his grasp, no longer quaking when he trailed his fingers to her panties, taking a new route by sliding his hand under her skirt to the waistband, slipping his fingers inside the white cotton material and trailing them down a fuzzy patch of newly-growing pubes that made him wrinkle his nose and feel frustrated for a split second to her soft folds. He hesitated for the briefest of seconds, knowing he could never go back once he did this, and then lightly stroked at her until she quaked against him before pushing his index inside of her.

She was wet and warm and it made his stomach twist.

So different. So new. So…disgusting.

She wasn't hot and overwhelmingly tight like Yugi was when he inserted his finger.

No, she was wet and warm and tight, but not tight like him.

He allowed a hiss of frustration to travel through his nose as he breathed deeply and pulled back slightly to allow Tea a chance to breathe, burying his face in a neck that smelled disgustingly strong of perfume that nearly made him gag against her skin. He returned his mouth to hers a second later, deciding that she had breathed enough because he couldn't handle that strong smell of oils and chemicals and girl product that made his sensitive nose ache close to that of a nosebleed.

Nosebleeds…

His stomach twisted harder, heaved slightly, seemed to jump and quake beneath his skin. His finger traveled up to the knuckle and the lack of resistance kind of made him feel sad but he ignored it to push in his second finger.

She moaned when he touched something deep inside of her and he decided that would have to do for now because he was not about to have sex with her.

Especially since…

He shook the thought off. Maybe it was just his thoughts that dissuaded it.

He pushed his thoughts away, cleared his mind completely, went about shutting it down, and felt his fingers plunge deep inside her as he began a strange rhythm to finger-fuck her with.

But it didn't help. His mind shut down, his senses all taking in what should have pleased him to no end, and yet it still did not work. His sense of taste betrayed him. He could not dive into the honey and drown there. His sense of touch abandoned him. His fingers, soaked in something sticky and warm, did not like the unfamiliar setting and felt too thick from the coating of fluids. His sense of smell eluded him. His nose burned with the reminiscence of her perfume that he was now too strikingly aware of against the slightly warm-chilled air and now it was doubled with what remained of the lip gloss his own lips had not taken from her mouth…

He kept thrusting his fingers in and out of her but even that didn't make his pants tight and his penis remained flaccid the entire time, nearly making him panic; when he pulled away for air, he pressed his face against the brick wall, struggling with the fact that he could not get an erection for the life of him.

Tea was panting and Yami nearly threw up. She didn't sound like Yugi. She didn't taste like Yugi. She didn't feel like Yugi. She didn't kiss like Yugi. She didn't even _pant _like Yugi.

He was a second away from sobbing as panic gripped him. What if he really was gay? Could he hide that when he went back? How was he supposed to keep it secret from his parents? Could he actually hide it from them? Or would it show?

When she moaned he recoiled so sharply he got whiplash and she stared at him in surprise; his fingers were disgustingly sticky and wet, warm with her juices, and he nearly threw up again.

Oh no, no, no, no, no, no…

He would have gotten on his knees and prayed to every deity out there but it would make no difference; he was screwed and his parents were going to disown him because he was a fuck up and fuck ups did exactly that. His parents would find out and he would be kicked out and homeless and shamed and a disgrace and—no, he needed to stop thinking about this.

"Yami?"

Her voice, breathless and concerned, was what made him run. He looked up for a split second and then he turned and fled with her calling after him.

* * *

Yugi opened the door to the last person he wanted to see.

"This is your fault," Yami spat, slamming the door behind him and stalking towards him, baring his teeth in a silent snarl as he stopped a foot away from him. "You and your stupid idea. If not for you, I wouldn't be so fucked up right now."

"You're blaming finger-fucking Tea on _me_?" he snapped incredulously, blue-violet eyes wide as he shook his head and scowled at him. "You fucking dick. You _knew_ how I felt about her."

"Oh cry me a fucking river," he snarled viciously. "Let me tell you something, Yugi, she's hardly worth the time and energy you put into her. Spread her legs like a fucking _whore_ the moment I said I wanted her. But of course that didn't matter, because you fucked with my head and I couldn't even do anything with the little bitch."

Yugi blinked and then looked ready to spit at him, but Yami cut him off before he could say anything.

"She was tight. Really tight. I guess that's why everyone likes their little virgins, right? But no, of course, I get drunk and fuck the one little slut in high school who _advertises _his status as a sex slave and he decides he's going to screw me over and say that I might be gay," he snickered, shaking his head, sneering softly as he stalked forward another step. "You screwed with my head and I couldn't even fuck the bitch."

He was confused now. Tea had said that Yami ran off, but not why. Because she obviously hadn't known. And the only reason she even said anything was because she knew that they were working together on yet _another _partner project.

"She tastes like honey. Did you know that? Of course you didn't. Because she never wanted _you_. Just like _I _never wanted you," he spat. "I never wanted you. I never wanted this. I never wanted _any _of it. I was on the straight and narrow. I was going to get my ass out of here. I was going to become exactly what I was _meant _to and then _you—you _had to step in and ruin _everything_!"

"You can't blame not getting a fucking boner on me!" Yugi spat. "That's not how life works, you idiot. Have you ever considered that maybe she wasn't the right _gender_ for you, Yami?"

"Have you ever considered that the reason she couldn't give two shits about you is because you're not _worth _them?"

If he had expected damage with that snarl, he was sorely mistaken. Years of bullying had hardened him to the point that the little comments that Yami could throw at him left nothing more than a small bland piece of boredom in the back of his mind that burned and lingered and then dissipated altogether because that's what happened—Yugi got _bored _when others insulted him.

They all became the same anyways. So what was the point of listening to everyone who wanted to try to drag him down?

What he was not expecting was the fist that slammed into his nose so hard and fast that he fell backwards; Yami looked confused and then horrified and then blinked and looked apologetic for a split second before he turned murderous and moved so fast Yugi would have missed it had he blinked.

Yami strode forward, straddled him, and started punching and grabbing and slamming. Yugi's head was thrown into the ground so many times he lost count but the punches were aimed at his chest instead of his face, almost as if Yami was conscious of the bruises that would appear had he aimed higher.

But all the while, his face looked confused. It was hidden rather well, but it was there. In the corner of his eyes, at the outer most reaches of his dark red irises, shining beneath the mask of rage in his gaze. His punches were not hard and Yugi took them easily, not bothering to fight back because he neither wanted to hurt Yami nor did he want to actually participate in something he abhorred so much.

He could fight, but he wouldn't. Not now.

Not here.

Not against Yami.

Not when he looked so confused and lost even with the anger on his face.

He was just scared and confused and he was not even _trying _to hurt him. The fist that had busted his nose was no longer there, replaced by simple halfhearted slugs to his shoulders and chest, a few of them even missing in all the chaos that must have been swirling around the red-eyed boy's mind.

"They're going to disown me."

It was so quiet that Yugi barely caught it but when he looked at him, he could see the heartbreak that literally crossed his face, the way his body seemed to draw in on itself as he looked at the ground next to Yugi's head, blinking a few times and then shaking his head.

"They're going to disown me…"

Yugi took the opportunity that was presented to him. Gently, neither wanting to scare or hurt him, he pushed Yami off of him; the taller teen barely seemed to notice as he slipped out from under him, his eyes staring vacantly at the floor.

"My parents…are going to disown me…because of you."

Yugi blinked wide eyes when Yami slowly turned his head and looked at him, tilting it slightly to the side, his eyes wide and full of despair that made him flinch and recoil just before the taller teen slowly, almost mechanically, drew himself to his feet, the movement still fluid despite the way he looked broken doing it, and then turned and trudged out the door, not even bothering to slam it behind him like someone else would have.

In the wake of it all, however, he was still so utterly confused. Was Yami homophobic? Because that seemed _really _extremely hypocritical considering that it was _him _he was shacking up with.

Then again, maybe Yugi was the gay one? He seemed open to it, after all, and he was pretty sure that no straight male could _ever _say that about themselves. And if he _was _gay, then did that mean that maybe he somehow influenced Yami and Yami was really straight?

And then he was laughing like a hyena.

That was fucking ridiculous.

And one of the most entertaining thoughts he had had in years.

Homosexuality wasn't some kind of disease and you couldn't _make _someone gay. It was in their genes or it wasn't. It was that fucking simple.


	7. Infatuation

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Note: Story will be updated every Wednesday**

**Warning: TONS of cursing throughout story**

**Chapter Warning: Chapter is rated MA (Mature Adult) for sexual content (lemon)**

**Lemon Warning: If you want to skip the lemons, don't read past the statement "Do the world a goddamned favor and shut it, will you?" and continue to the second part. The second lemon starts at "My...my grandpa. He had a heart attach two days ago...". If you don't think you're going to remember that, use F and Ctrl and type both phrases in, then delete the first phrase when you come up to it and use the Find function to highlight the part where the second lemon begins.**

**Lemon Note: The lemons actually DO serve a purpose, though, so yeah, I didn't just write it and post it without a reason...**

**XxLoveless: Thank you! :) I enjoyed reading your review. I'm glad that you like the story :)**

**All right so early post because I am going to be super busy tomorrow with a job interview and some packing. SO anyways enjoy :)**

Chapter VII: Infatuation

"There is nothing wrong with being gay."

Yugi was unsure of why exactly he was arguing this position because he was pretty sure that if he had a crush on Tea for years like that, then certainly, by all means, he was not gay. But Yami, on the other hand, had never shown interest in anyone, even the hot blonde Mana that he was already hanging around or even _Mai_ who Joey dubbed the hottest girl in existence who they had all seen him personally hanging out with one night at the theater when they went as a group to reduce ticket cost—of course, upon seeing her, Joey had announced that they would follow the two of them, especially when Tristan asked out loud if it was a date after spotting Mai grab Yami's hand, and all of them had been forced to watch Mai and Yami sitting in the back rows laughing and messing around and occasionally throwing candy at other customers; it was by all means, a date by the looks of it, but when Yami suddenly turned around and smirked at Joey out of nowhere—they had thought they had done a good job of hiding, but of course, with Joey grumbling like he was, that really wasn't an option—as Mai left for the restroom, he had said they came as friends and then laughed his ass off when Tristan made a scene about having wasted ten dollars stalking a couple that wasn't even a couple—so maybe he really _was _gay.

Because, the only person he had shown interest in, at all, was Yugi.

And Yugi was still male.

He had the body parts to prove it.

"I am not _gay_!" Yami spat for the millionth time that day.

"You know, the sooner you admit it, the sooner you can come to terms with it."

He hadn't meant to make it come out in a singsong voice, but of course it did.

Yami raised his head and fixed him a stare that a wolf would give a sheep, red eyes boring into his and rendering him completely paralyzed.

"You understand nothing, Yugi."

"You're right. I _don't _understand. I don't understand how the fuck you can react to something so _normal _as if it was the end of the world."

Yugi could almost _see _the words _They're going to disown me _behind his sharp red eyes.

"And what the fuck does that even _mean_?" he cried in desperation, throwing his hands up. "Your parents aren't going to disown you for something so stupid!"

"You. Understand. _Nothing_."

"I already admitted that. Please, say something _different_ for once, Yami."

For a moment he was silent and then finally, under his breath, "I fucking hate you. It's your fault. They're going to disown me all because of you."

"Hate me all you want, sweet cheeks, but it doesn't matter. Now, how the fuck is this _my _fault? I didn't make you gay, Yami. In fact, you're born with it, so if it's anyone's fault, it's your parents'."

"_Shut the fuck up_!"

Yugi took a quick step back when Yami stood up, glowering and spitting, "You don't understand anything, so you have no right to fucking open your mouth. Do the world a goddamned favor and shut it, would you?"

For a long minute neither of them spoke and Yami took a seat on the armrest again. Yugi, on the other hand, suddenly lunged.

The taller boy's head snapped towards him, startled by the sudden move, but then melted into the familiarity that the school "bad boy" brought with him.

Regardless, Yami still was not really sure how it happened. One second they were arguing and then the next Yugi's tongue, his sinfully delicious tongue, was in his mouth, stroking and moving against his; he went over the armrest with Yugi between his legs and he was terrified but he refused to let it control him. Instead when Yugi started pulling at his clothes, he hissed something rather vague about not getting naked to which Yugi accommodated him.

His pants were unzipped, unbuttoned, pulled down, and Yugi was pressed into him, his erection making him hiss as it was exposed to the cold air of the apartment. Lips pressed against his and in his confusion he gripped at Yugi's jacket, unable to push him away even when Yugi's finger entered him; he squirmed and the finger stopped for a moment, highly uncomfortable and anything but painful.

His stomach exploded with fear, fear of what Yugi was doing, of the possibilities, of what it meant to actually want this to happen, of handing the control over when he was always in control since arriving in Japan. And did it make him any less of a person if he did this? Surely not if Yugi could do it for him and come away just as he always was.

Suddenly Yugi was inside of him and he was big, filling him completely, making him stretch in ways Yami had never really given much thought to. He was still so confused. How had he ended up like this?

He had never been interested in anyone because of his family and now he was fucking and being fucked by another male. What the hell had happened to him?

His fingers dug into Yugi's shoulders, confused and scared and making Yugi's face twist into a grimace of pain.

Their position wasn't the best. Yami was bent backwards over the armrest and Yugi was standing, leaning over, inside of him, on top of him, above him. And the only thing Yami could think of was why this was happening. Where had he gone wrong? And why was _he_ wrong? What was wrong _with _him?

Yugi finally started moving and if Yami had not been so focused on the terrors that were taking up space in his mind, he would felt the pleasure that Yugi had the times Yami had taken him. Instead of mewling with each time Yugi hit his prostate—and Yugi _knew _he was hitting it because he could feel it despite its small size—Yami was sinking his nails further into his skin and he was becoming more terrified in expression.

Maybe it made Yugi disgusting and sadistic but he didn't stop. And finally, after twenty minutes, Yami seemed to relax against him rather suddenly, as if his fears had very spontaneously fallen away, and his mouth opened in moans and mewls of pleasure, his eyes closed and his grip on his shoulders lightening to a more bearable pressure.

Yugi would have given anything to see inside Yami's head at that moment. Because he was obviously braving whatever fear he felt because there was no way it was gone, not when his nails would occasionally sink into his skin again, his sounds would occasionally stop completely for minutes at a time, and his eyes would open with a terrified, confused and hurt expression that made his heart wrench.

And yet he didn't stop, because for whatever reason, this also seemed to relax Yami for small intervals of time and though he knew he would not be able to make him reach orgasm, it was comforting to know that he wasn't hurting him.

Yami was breathless, tired, panting, when Yugi finally came inside of him, catching himself against the cushions next to Yami's body as the red-eyed boy opened his eyes in confusion at the lack of movement. Yugi waited a minute and then pulled out of him and Yami continued staring in confusion, looking completely and utterly lost now; for a moment he didn't move but then he was suddenly pulling his pants up, scrambling to get dressed again, his movements wild and scattered and causing him to fall off the couch rather painfully. Yugi went to help him up but Yami was already on his feet and bolting from the house, leaving him alone to stare after him.

Did that constitute as rape?

Yugi debated this for a long time. Yami had not said no but he had not said yes either. He had not pushed him away and had pulled him closer, in fact. He had let him kiss him and maybe he had been too lost in his thoughts at the time to notice what was going on, but he hadn't panicked or begged him to stop.

It was rather apparent Yami had been having a war going on in his head, unable to focus on what was happening to and around him.

Yugi leaned against the couch for a moment. Yami had softened every single time he had lost himself in his head. He wanted to ask him if he was okay, wanted to follow him and see if it was him he had run from so fast, but the thoughts died away in his head to be replaced by another train entirely different.

Maybe he was bisexual, not gay. Because he had never liked a guy before Yami and he had been as close to in love with Tea as he could have been for three years straight. So maybe he was bisexual, not gay. Maybe that meant the same for Yami too?

But then…again, came the thought that perhaps Yami was gay. Because he had been asexual as far as Yugi was concerned. No interest was shown in others around him. No females, no males. No one had caught those dark red eyes. And after Mokuba was put in the hospital—Yugi should really ask about that some time—Yami had come to him and fucked him and then, even sober, he did not stop it at all.

And every single time it happened he had the opportunity. All it took was pushing him away.

And yet, Yami had never made the move to do so.

And neither had Yugi, because Yugi had liked it. So, if Yugi was right, Yami's reason was the exact same and that meant that he was interested in males. Which meant he was gay because otherwise he would have responded to Tea like he responded to Yugi—erections, make out sessions, bodies brushing together and not hesitating in their wants.

But no, Yami had run off because he couldn't _get _an erection. Which meant that he was not interested in girls.

Which meant, in all respects, he had to be gay.

…Right?

Or maybe he just didn't hit it off with Tea. Maybe he had the hots for another girl. Maybe Mana if not Mai, but then, in a weird freaky kind of way, the two of them looked alike—long blonde hair, Mana's goldenrod like Yugi's bangs and Mai platinum, kind of semi-revealing clothing, both with bright eyes that were also dark at the same time—so maybe that didn't work either.

Yugi frowned in puzzlement.

Perhaps…Yami was just gay.

* * *

Yami got to the hospital ten minutes later than expected. Because, before he could even get there, he had thrown up all over the sidewalk like some kind of drunk person, staggered a few feet, and then had fled to his house to clean his mouth out before taking off to Domino City Central Hospital.

So when he got there, Seto, Bakura and Malik were all standing around and talking about stupid things; as soon as the blond of the group spotted him all three pairs of eyes—dark coffee brown that turned nearly black when angered, ice blue that blazed with fire, and a pair of lavender eyes with nearly no pupils—turned and stared.

He forced himself into a jog despite the way his legs protested, the way his stomach screamed for him to move slower, and the way his throat seemed to burn with the action; all three pairs of eyes traveled up and down his form for a long moment but none of them mentioned the small limp he had obtained. Not yet, anyways, but he knew it would not go unmentioned later on.

"How is he?"

He was breathless and it earned three matching smirks that varied in degree, Seto's small and barely noticeable, Malik's semi-wide and Bakura's wide as the Cheshire cat's.

"Oh, he's fine," the brown-eyed spiky-silver-haired pale-skinned boy stated, chuckling softly as he looked his shorter cousin over.

Yami felt strange with that pair of eyes scrutinizing him but that always happened anyways; it was hard not to feel strange with those dark brown eyes watching you. He had grown accustomed to it anyways, not that he was really willing to admit it took him a year to do so.

"They're keeping him here for a few more weeks," the tall brunet explained, that smirk on his face never leaving.

Okay, was the limp _that _noticeable?

God, now he almost wished he had gotten shit-faced to deal with them.

"Observation and all that," Malik supplied.

Yami tilted his head. "How's his leg?"

"It's okay. Doctor said he might never be able to run properly."

"So nothing's really changed."

Bakura had no shame and it was what made Yami snicker while Malik shook his head with a wider smirk and Seto shot him a sharp but amused look. It was true, however; Mokuba was really bad at running. No one really had an explanation for it, but he kind of leaned forward more than he kept himself straight and sometimes when he ran he couldn't keep in one line.

The running gag of the family was to mimic his run.

Yami had never really done it because Bakura and Malik were the only two who really pointed it out and teased him for it, but he had joked about it more than once with the others.

Even Seto had laughed about it more than once already.

"But the surgery worked?"

"Yeah. He just…can't ever really get on a plane anymore."

The others all fell silent, the laughter that had been there moments before immediately gone. Mokuba had been hit and stuck in a coma for two months now, officially on his third. His leg had been mangled and torn up and the doctors had said he was barely even alive when they got him, that it was a miracle that he had even survived as long as he had considering all the factors of the accident—a drunk driver skidded on black ice left behind by an early spring rain in which the rain had frozen overnight when the temperatures dropped rather drastically, hit him and got knocked out from the impact with the wheel, car was totaled, Mokuba was hypothermic by that point, most of his blood was gone, and he was barely breathing—and that he might never wake from the coma, especially when Seto insisted that they not amputate his leg, that they tried to save it.

Yami looked away from them because none of them were really looking at him anymore and hesitantly peeked into the room where his younger cousin lay under snow white sheets with a pillow behind his head and the monitors attached to his body. His eyes immediately flicked away again.

"He was only awake for a few minutes," Bakura muttered, glancing at him. "He asked for you but…"

"I missed it," he supplied, nodding. "I…Things got a little out of hand."

None of them really commented for a moment, neither accepting nor discouraging Yami's silence on the matter.

"So, how about that limp you got there?"

Oh fucking Ra…

"What's up with that?"

Was it a crime if you gouged your cousin's eyes out?

Yami nearly convinced himself that it wasn't because Bakura would be in a hospital at the time it happened and that would be the logical place to do it, where there would be immediate attention towards his wound, but then shook it all off when he felt all three of them staring at him pointedly.

"Doesn't look like you're in pain," Malik hinted, snickering softly.

"Yes, please explain it," Seto muttered, raising an eyebrow at him.

"You're the ones who always say you have skills," Yami snapped, bristling, "so why don't you tell me?"

All three of them went wide-eyed and then mouths dropped open—two of them, the psychos who stared in pure shock for a minute before cracking up and nearly falling over each other—while Yami ducked his head and glared at the ground.

He couldn't have just said he was stiff? Oh, _no_, he just _had _to blurt out that he took it up the ass in not so many words.

"Holy shit, no way," Bakura cracked up. "Who was it?"

"Shut up," Yami spat, not looking up. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't mean anything."

"Dude, you're in so much trouble," Malik argued, shaking his head and seeming to have sobered up from his laughter, blinking wide eyes as he looked at him. "Your parents…"

"You think I don't know that?" When he raised his head all three of them flinched openly. "I am well fucking aware of that, Malik. But is it that much of a surprise? I fuck up all the goddamned time."

"What?" his silver-haired cousin barked, scowling and shaking his head. "Don't even start with that."

"I didn't even make it to see my eight-year-old cousin when he first woke up from a three month coma," Yami spat, shaking his head. "You can't argue that I _didn't_ just fuck up."

All three of them fell silent for a moment.

"It doesn't matter that you missed it. The point is that he woke up," Seto argued after the silence became too thick for any of them to really think straight. "Besides, you can see him whenever you want after he comes home."

Yami rolled his eyes. "It's not the same."

None of them argued with that.

"Who was it?" Malik asked, his voice quiet and nonjudgmental and purely curious.

He brought his right thumbnail to his mouth and chewed with his bottom teeth for a moment, wondering what he should say; the others watched him closely, curiously, for a long moment.

"Yugi Motou."

For a moment none of them answered and then all three of them were cracking up.

"The _shrimp_?" Bakura howled.

"The sex slave?" Malik snickered.

"The smallest boy in your school?" Seto laughed.

He rolled his eyes and looked over the railing. He could see a million doctors and nurses and people walking around on the ground floor beneath them, some stopping to talk while others scurried around. It was not busy today—thankfully, Yami supposed—and so most of them were not running. There was a select few who were racing around but it seemed more like their own patients needed them rather than anything worthwhile.

He strode towards the railing, grabbing at the white metal and staring harder when he spotted a nurse that he recognized. His head tilted to the side. No, she wasn't a nurse. She was volunteering—dear Ra, was that Vivian Wong?

His eyes stretched to the size of saucers. Holy fuck.

He didn't know her personally and he didn't really know the dress code of the hospital, but he was pretty sure that breasts were not supposed to be exposed that much. He shook his head slightly. What the fuck?

When was the last time that he had interacted with the brunette?

He could not recall a single instance, actually.

No, he did not know her at all. But he did know Mai and Mai was the brunette's best friend so she had mentioned her a few times.

He knew her name.

He knew her face.

From cheerleading.

From the one game that he went with Bakura and Malik to attend.

From the occasional mentioning of her name between him and Mai when they spoke of their days before his history class with Yugi began each day.

From her sitting nearby in his history class though they had never held a conversation.

Bakura whistled softly, a catcall that would never reach her. "Shit, nice boobs."

"They're called breasts," Yami muttered.

His cousin made a scoffing noise. "Don't get technical on me, Yami."

"Who the hell calls them that anyways?" Malik snickered, coming to his other side and purring softly, the noise making the air seem to part with amusement. "No one calls them that anymore."

Yami pulled away from the railing, turned and walked a couple of feet, started in on his nail again, thinking hard about what he should say.

"Who knew our little cousin had it in him to be a peeping tom?"

"I was doing nothing of the sort!" he spat viciously, spinning on him. "I thought I recognized her and I did."

Bakura and Malik suddenly swapped looks and then turned to him with a confused expression shared between them that made Yami stop short and stare while Seto gave them completely silent regards from a guarded expression.

"Wait, wasn't that Tea chick telling Yugi about how you finger-fucked her at school the other day?" the silver-haired boy asked slowly, cautiously, narrowing his eyes and glancing at Malik sideways before turning back; the blond nodded once and stared at him for an explanation.

"For fuck's sake, _you're _the slut?" Seto cried, shaking his head. "I was expecting it from those two, but _you_?"

Yami turned crimson and ducked his head while his cousins roared with laughter and gave high-fives, snickering and watching him with delighted expressions. "I…I…" he started, voice coming out strained and weak before blinking wide eyes and groaning. "Yugi started asking if I was gay, but I'm not—I mean, I can't be—so then I decided to prove it and Tea always had this massive crush on me so I just…"

"Damn it," the brunet growled while Bakura and Malik went slack-jawed once more, eyes nearly popping out of their heads as they stared at him.

"You used her?" Bakura asked.

"Who knew you had it in you?"

"Stop saying that!" he snarled, spinning on the blond. "Stop fucking saying that."

"You guys are stressing him out. Knock it off."

Neither of them really gave a shit what Seto had to say, because that was how it normally went anyways. The taller brunet was the only one who could keep them in line but only after he convinced them why to _not_ do what they planned to. Now, however, they only stopped because of the distress in Yami's eyes.

Contrary to popular belief, the two of them were not malicious. When they got into fights with someone at school, they kicked ass because that was how they got their frustrations out, but they would never hurt one of their cousins.

So, they both fell silent while Yami went back to chewing on his thumbnail and Seto went back to looking at them silently, taking in information but not bothering with contribution.

"Your parents…"

"I know. I know about my parents. They _are_ mine, after all."

For a long minute none of them spoke and then both of them were looking at their older cousin who was watching the youngest start pacing slowly towards the window of his brother's room and then back to the railing before stopping and leaning forward to watch something downstairs.

The three of them joined him after a moment, finding that someone had brought in an elderly man on a gurney. They were all talking loudly and saying something, some people rushing forward while others were calling down the hallways.

Yami tracked their movements without so much as a pause, but the man on the gurney…he looked almost familiar.

And he shouldn't have.

Yet he recognized his face, not his name.

"Holy fuck—is that the shrimp?"

Yami shot a look towards Malik and then tried to follow his eyes before his own gaze grew twice its size; sure enough there was Yugi, talking to one of the paramedics while a girl with long blonde hair pulled in pigtails holding a stuffed brown bear was at his side with wide eyes, the glasses on her face doing nothing but accentuating the large size of them. She looked like she might be twelve but the clothes she wore said something completely different—fishnet stockings, black Converses shoes with skulls, a black and red pleated plaid skirt, a tight black tank top under a small jean jacket that barely covered her under-developed chest with the buttons that were actually in use, long black half-sleeves on her arms, and a choker-like necklace with a small sapphire gemstone in the middle just over the indent of her collarbone.

"Who the fuck is she?" Bakura muttered, narrowing his eyes. "Why the fuck haven't I ever seen her before?"

"Is she holding his hand? She's holding his hand!"

"Holy shit—Yugi fucked you up the ass but he's got a girlfriend!"

"Maybe you guys can have a threesome!"

"Yugi is a pedophile! She's still a little girl!"

"Knock it off!"

The snarl was low and cold but it drew the attention of several others down the hall and around them. Bakura and Malik gave him slightly shocked looks while Seto smirked and snickered at their expressions and Yami rolled his eyes while leaning against the railing more fully.

"Jealous much?" his silver-haired cousin snickered.

"I wonder if Ra will punish me if I kill you."

"That's fucked up," Malik muttered.

Yami rolled his eyes with a soft groan, putting his forehead against the railing and shaking his head. Why was he related to these two idiots anyways? Some people were just not supposed to reproduce and apparently his mother's sister and her husband fell under that category.

"Okay, fun aside, what are you going to do about your parents?" Bakura asked, leaning against the railing and not taking his eyes off of the two figures below; Yugi was talking to the blonde girl now, saying something and gesturing slightly. The girl had massive tears streaming down her face and Yugi was obviously trying to comfort her.

"I don't know." His voice was muffled from his position but the others understood what he said. He rubbed his hot skin against the cool metal, unsure of why he felt so feverish. It had started since he had arrived at the hospital but now his skin was prickling beneath his shirt and he felt almost sick with the sensation. "I just…fuck, I don't know."

"Well, obviously you can't tell them," Malik muttered, sighing and running a hand through his spiky blond hair; neither Yami nor Bakura sneered "You think?" like he had expected.

"She just kissed him."

Yami didn't open his eyes for a long moment and when he finally did, his eyes drifted across the tile flooring to take in the two once more; Yugi barely stood at the same size as her, or maybe it was she who barely stood at the same size of him. Either way, they were small in size, facing each other, talking quietly. The teddy bear was getting the stuffing squeezed out of it. The girl was sobbing her heart out. Yugi was trying to comfort her but seemed a little lost on how to do so even from this far away. They looked like the perfect couple. Creamy milky skin tones, flawless semi-heart-shaped faces, standing at the same size, wide eyes, long lashes, even the fashion sense…

"They probably are dating," Yami observed, shrugging and turning to them, rubbing his cheek against the railing as he took in their expressions; Bakura stared with narrowed eyes, no real emotion but silent judgment across his face and Malik was leaning forward a little more, obviously interested by the sudden appearance of the girl.

"Why have we never seen them before though?" Malik asked.

"Who knows? Does it matter?"

Both of them shot him incredulous looks, Bakura's hardened and dark while Malik grimaced before they suddenly looked back at the two again.

"I have to live with them until I get married," Yami said softly, turning his head and laying his forehead against the railing again, wishing he could absorb the cool sensation of the metal into his skin and chill his heated flesh. "I'll never escape them. I'll never make it out of there without being disowned."

"Marriage?" Seto asked, startled.

Yami had a moment where he forgot that Seto was not completely aware of all the things in their family customs as his parents had died when he turned twelve and he had been living off their inheritance, making a name for himself in Domino City for the last five years as he now owned his own corporation, Kaiba Corp.

"Yeah, it's a custom," Bakura supplied for him, leaning forward a little more and narrowing his eyes further; he recognized the girl from somewhere but he couldn't remember for the life of him who the fuck she was. "Unless you are disowned, you live with your family until you are married."

"What the fuck?" the brunet scoffed.

He and Mokuba's parents had not enforced that custom at all. In fact, Yami's parents were technically the only one who followed that custom anymore. Both Bakura and Malik's parents had dismissed that altogether.

But considering the circumstances of his own family, Yami actually _could _understand why it was seemingly so important to his parents. Even if he didn't agree, he _did _understand. Even if he _hated _it, he understood. It made a difference—a small one, but still a difference.

"But fuck, if they disown me, I will have nothing," Yami murmured. "My name is going to be slandered and dragged through the mud, my house is going to be taken out from under me, I'm going to be so screwed over."

"So get emancipated."

Yami jerked and his head snapped around, confused for a moment before his eyes stretched wide and he blinked several times; emancipation. Why had he not thought of that?

He cringed. "No." He turned away and swallowed hard. "I can't do that either. The courts would get involved. It would be just another massive scandal. My parents would be ridiculed. Besides, I'm not even seventeen yet. Plus, it will take forever to process and what am I to do if I _do _win? I have no job so doing so would be a waste of money I don't have and time that could be better used just keeping my grades up. When it blows over…I can go home again."

Yugi looked up at that moment. At first his expression was confused and slightly cold, annoyed by all means, but when his eyes found Yami's, they stretched wide in surprise before blinking several times.

"Yugi!" the girl beside him said, confused, looking up and glancing at them and back, annoyed that someone else had caught _her _Yugi's attention.

"Hmm?" he muttered halfheartedly, not looking away.

"Ooh, a staring contest," Bakura chuckled darkly.

Yami chuckled once and shook his head. "You're so stupid."

"Shut up. I need to stare the bitch down."

"Which one?" Malik asked.

"And now I understand why my humor is so fucked up."

Both of his cousins started laughing at his comment, looking at him and drawing his attention away so that he could smirk at them before pushing away from the railing and turning to Seto.

"I can't get emancipated."

* * *

"Hey…"

Yami looked up after a moment, blinking as he put his pencil down; across from him, Mana and Mahado stared at the newcomer with widened eyes.

"What's up?"

Yugi glanced over his shoulder at his friends who were practically gawking, and then turned back, muttering, "My house after school? I can't make it to the library. I have things I have to do."

The red eyes blinked once and then he nodded. "Uh, yeah, sure, I guess," he answered, furrowing his brows slightly; Yugi looked dejected. His posture was off. His hands were in his pockets. His eyes had small bags beneath them. His hair looked more disarrayed than usual. He was staring at just beneath his eyes, towards his eyelashes rather than his gaze, and his expression seemed to scream defeat.

Yami would have asked but he did not wish to be rude, nor did he want to make Yugi stay over there longer than he had to. But the dejected look made his stomach twist and he honestly had to wonder what was wrong even if he did not force the words from his mouth.

"Great," he muttered, turning on his heel and walking off.

Mana and Mahado looked at him immediately as he watched his departure from the corner of his eye before turning back; the two stared expectantly but he honestly had nothing to tell them.

Yami had not seen Yugi in three days—not since Friday at the hospital, in which he had left through the back exit so that they would not cross paths and Yugi was not there on Monday—so his sudden appearance, especially after he missed the first half of the day, was rather surprising.

His request even more so.

Yami tried to fight off the chill of fear that swept through him for the smaller boy but could not push it away and instead felt it lingering just beneath his skin even as his mind told him that everything was okay.

But obviously it wasn't.

Yugi's demeanor was off. His entire body language was completely opposite of what it should have been. It was sad, broken, like his will had been stripped from him, and he had no idea what the hell caused it.

"Well, that was definitely strange," Mana murmured.

Her twin nodded his consent towards her comment and watched Yami closely for a moment. "How far are you two in your project?"

For a moment Yami wondered if this was some passive-aggressive dig at his relationship with Yugi, but realized quickly that it was merely his paranoia talking. But Ra, what was he going to do?

He wasn't about to let Mahado see how rattled his question had left him, especially not with the way Mana was now watching him as well, both twins terribly curious but also slightly concerned by something that they must have seen on his face in that single moment of his mask slipping.

"Not far enough. We might even be behind the rest of the class, honestly. We haven't gotten together in over four days now."

"Don't stress about it," the mauve-eyed boy advised, probably trying to ease some of his discomfort. "You still have a long time to finish it up. Besides, you two are really smart, so I have no doubt that you'll finish it before it's even due."

Yami thought it over for a long moment and then finally nodded before grabbing his tray and dumping it in the trash; yeah, they would get it done before it was due.

Of course they would. Why wouldn't they?

He did not even bother with discretion when he looked over his shoulder at the smaller boy.

He sat with the others but while they openly talked, he was merely listening, occasionally saying something before watching them argue some more; when he looked over, Yami mouthed "You okay?" to which he shrugged and waved him off dismissively.

Normally that would have provoked his ire but this time Yami just let it happen, taking his seat again and watching the twins as they started to mess around with their food and, as per usual, began to make the better image with it.

The tradition had started in ninth grade in which Yami had commented that his food looked oddly like a lizard in shape and Mana had decided hat she was going to make a dog and Mahado said he could make one better. Now, every day, after they finished eating what they actually _wanted_ off their trays, they would make images in their food and Yami would be the judge of who made the better one. Both of them were pretty talented though, and Yami often ended up pissing them off—playfully, because neither of them took it seriously—with his indecisiveness.

He met Yugi at the gate but was surprised when the other four tagged along with him only to have him snarl, "Well? What the fuck are you doing? Go!" and see them swap looks before walking off without him. Yugi glared after them the entire time and then stalked past him, accidentally ramming shoulders with him and giving a sharp, "Sorry" before ignoring him the rest of the way.

Yami did not let this deter him from what was needed to be done. Instead he stayed quiet and walked with him as if he had not just snapped at both his friends and him. Instead he let his eyes travel towards the various buildings they walked by, not really paying attention but just letting his eyes linger on things without focus.

Yugi threw the door open and the bell on the door nearly fell off but the smaller teen merely glanced at him and waved him inside; upon entering everything about the air seemed to change.

There was no longer any anger to the smaller boy who seemed to have withdrawn into himself out of nowhere, frowning and flipping the sign to Open and then wandering over to the counter, Yami a step behind him as he took a seat and pulled his binder out to start working on their project again.

Yugi looked just as dejected as he did when he had first seen him. There was no anger left in him.

But he did not ask if he was okay.

Because he wasn't sure if he even wanted to know the answer.

So instead, he settled for, "Was that blonde girl your girlfriend?"

It was effective in drawing Yugi's attention to him, wide-eyed and confused before a small smirk made its way across his face, snickering, "Why? Are you jealous?"

"Hardly," he replied, rolling his eyes. And he wasn't, because there was not a single emotion that went through him with that statement—not denial, not anger, not sorrow. Nothing. Because that was what this thing between them meant to either of them. Nothing.

"No, she's not my girlfriend. She's a family friend."

"Oh. You guys seemed really close."

Yugi blinked once and then shrugged a little, flipping his notebook open. "She has a crush on me," he said dismissively. "But she's only fourteen."

"That doesn't mean anything…"

"Oh, so you're one of those. 'Age is only a number'," he sneered, his voice coming out dark and sharp and furious; Yami blinked once, wide-eyed, and then slowly realized that Yugi's ire was not directed towards him but something he was thinking of.

"No, I just…she's a freshman, but she looks twelve."

"People mistake me for twelve."

"People mistake me for fourteen."

Both of them stared for a long moment and then looked away.

"I don't like her that way."

"Does she know that?"

"She should. I haven't given her any signals that I like her."

Yami frowned slightly and looked at the glass counter. They hadn't given each other any signals either, but they still ended up fucking for whatever reason. He shook the thought off, grabbing his research material and sliding it over to him.

"So those are the articles that I printed out for us to go through."

"I thought you wanted to do the research by yourself."

"Yes, I did. And that is the result." He pointed with his pencil and then used his eraser to slide it over to him. "What I meant is for you to go through it and see what you would like to put on the slides."

"I really don't like this arrangement."

Yami blinked and allowed his face to twist into a frown. "Why not?"

"Because it…I don't know. I just don't."

The taller teen didn't do the usual and comment on how that was stupid and instead just stared down at the papers for a moment, pursing his lips and then tilting his head before drumming his fingers on the counter. "Would you rather it be like last time?"

"Truthfully? Yes. It was easier. And less time consuming."

But it required them around each other.

Neither spoke this thought but it was definitely there between them, lingering in the air.

"I guess we could do that. I mean…yeah, okay. But if we do, can we meet up at my house next time? I have some things I need to do for the next week or two and if we're going to do this, it would be better if we did so there."

Yugi studied him for a long two minutes and Yami gave him a single expressionless look that showed nothing and finally the smaller boy turned away and sighed, "Yeah, sure, I guess we can. Whatever."

For a long few minutes they did nothing but sit there, thinking, occasionally glancing at the work that they should be doing but too caught up in their heads to bother with it.

"You haven't asked about Tea."

Yami cringed beside him and the action drew his attention, made him turn his head and stare openly.

"I…wasn't aware I was expected to."

"I thought that was common courtesy. I mean, you finger-fucked her, so…"

"I can't understand why I did that."

For a moment Yugi didn't answer and then he narrowed his eyes, his gaze flashing with suspicion. "So it wasn't to get back at me?"

Yami blinked and stared. "Get back at you? Why would I…?" He shook his head in confusion. "I have no need to get back at you. You haven't done anything wrong."

"No? You don't think so?"

The red eyes were confused. "Why would I think so?"

"I…because I…Well, you freaked the fuck out about me asking if you were gay and I thought you were mad, so…"

"I wasn't…I'm not…Can we get one thing straight right now?"

Yugi blinked.

"I am not gay. Nor will I ever _be _gay."

He could have asked "Then why didn't you get a boner?" but instead slowly nodded his head, not wanting to fight. "All right."

"But no, I was not mad at you. I was…I don't know, I just…I don't even know why the fuck I thought that was a good idea in the first place. I mean, my fuck buddy is my finger-fuck-victim's best friend."

Yugi gave him a strange look. Finger-fuck-victim? Well, that was a new way of putting it. "So you didn't just do that because you knew about my crush on her?"

Yami shook his head. "She was a victim of circumstance, nothing more, nothing less."

There it was again. Victim. What the fuck?

"I would never do that just to get back at someone. I just…I wasn't thinking when I did it. It just…happened."

Yugi frowned. Nothing ever really "just happened". There was always some kind of driving force behind it all, something that made it happen the way it did.

"I—I'm sorry. I didn't think about how it would hurt you. I just…I did it and then I realized how wrong it was…" He paused and could see from Yugi's eyes he was questioning this, seemingly suspicious of whether he ran because of his lack of a boner or because of his guilt. "Please, believe me, I didn't even take into consideration how you would feel with your crush—"

"I don't like her anymore," he interrupted, his voice coming out slightly cold; Yami stared at him, searched his eyes, found no hint of him lying because he wasn't. Yugi really did not have a crush on her anymore. There were no stirrings in his body at the mention of her, her name did not make him smile, her attention did not make him happy. It was a drastic change, but it was true. "But when you came here to yell at me, I figured you did it because you were angry at me for suggesting that you were…I didn't even like her anymore when you did it. I got over her sometime after we fucked. Besides that, I had planned to get you two together, but you really have no interest in her whatsoever, so whatever."

Yami frowned. "I'm sorry, Yugi."

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Besides, it's not me you should apologize to."

"I will not apologize for doing what I did."

Yugi looked at him, startled.

"It takes two people to do this. I may have used her, but she used me as well. She got her first kiss and her first touch and her first sexual experience. She got half of what she wanted. We used each other. It is as simple as that." He shook his head, scowling. "And I was not apologizing for finger-fucking her. I was apologizing because if I was not here, you might have had a chance with her."

He felt his eyes stretch wide in shock and he wanted to argue but he couldn't find it in him to do so; he was too startled by his words, by the conviction in his voice, the coldness of his statement.

Yami turned away and started on his work again.

Yugi stared for a minute and then turned away to look at his work before blinking several times.

"Bakura said she kissed you."

"Huh?" His head snapped towards him, confused. "Who? Tea?"

"The blonde girl." He looked over and raised an eyebrow. "In the hospital."

"I—no. She kissed my cheek. She always does that. It probably looked like that from the angle."

Yami nodded and then shrugged. "It just crossed my mind."

Yugi nodded a little and then bit his lip. "So, if Tea isn't enough to get you hard…who is?"

Yami tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, maybe she wasn't enough for you. She was too…easy or something? Maybe you should try with someone else?"

He looked thoughtful, open to the suggestion, and slowly he nodded. "I'll have to think that over sometime."

For a long two hours they did nothing but work, help the occasional customer, and then Yugi flipped the sign to Closed and led the way upstairs; maybe it shouldn't have surprised him at all, but the moment Yami stepped into the bedroom after him, the canvas bag was dropped to the floor and he was pushed onto the bed with the smaller boy straddling him.

The only difference this time, from all the others, was that Yugi was crying as he kissed him and the salty tears seemed to burn his mouth as his tongue tasted them unconsciously when Yugi turned his face away slightly as if he were trying to draw enough strength to stop himself.

Yami didn't comment and instead leaned forward and licked at his cheek, intrigued by the taste and the way that Yugi opened his eyes and watched him from the corner of his gaze but didn't pull away or try to push him away. They tasted like regular tears, of course, salty and wet, but at the same time they had some kind of special brand of sorrow to them that made them different.

Yugi turned his head towards him when Yami tapped the side of his jaw, surprised when the wet muscle started to lick up the other trail, giggling when he flicked his chin; he blushed at the noise that left his lips, because it was not like any noise he had ever made before, but Yami didn't stop, instead giving him a half-smirk.

And then it was all overwhelming and he was crying harder while Yami looked confused before pulling back and looking at him for a moment, blinking several times before trailing small kisses up his cheek to his lashes and down to his chin and then wiping under his eyes with his thumbs. "Why are you crying?"

For a second or two Yami had a moment where he wondered if Yugi was just overwhelmed by the whole thing with Tea, wondered if maybe he was lying when he said that he felt nothing for her anymore, but then he ducked his head and muttered, his voice so choked and thick that it was barely recognizable.

"My…my grandpa. He had a heart attack two days ago…"

Things clicked in his head.

No, the man from the stretcher was not Solomon Motou, but he was definitely familiar. Either way, Solomon had gotten his heart attack right after. So that might mean that the man was on the expedition with him. Possibly heat stroke induced the heart attack or something or other made it happen because one right after the other was not normal.

It also explained Yugi's absence from school.

It explained the reason why they manned the shop.

It explained his demeanor and his anger towards his friends.

It also explained Yugi's anger when he said "Age is only a number".

His grandfather ignored his age and when he got sick and went to the hospital, Yugi was left alone, had to deal with school and the shop and all of his daily activities without any relief from the stress of it all.

That was why he asked him to his house.

Because he would have someone to help with it all, to help him cope. And now, he wanted an escape from it all because, obviously, the shop, the house, everything was just a reminder of his sick grandfather.

Yami wanted to tell him no, because this would never help him, but at the same time, he had done this very thing to him before. So what if he had gotten plastered first? The point was that he had done this to Yugi before and he would be nothing but a hypocrite if he was to try to deny him this. And Yami _hated _hypocrites.

He didn't need another reason to hate himself right now.

He stroked at his ribs with his fingers, gently coaxing him as he slid and squirmed beneath him, backing up to the pillows. He could give him this. It was honestly that simple.

Yugi would go to no one else because there was no one else who would give without expecting something in return.

And Yami understood that so much more than he could ever put into words.

The smaller boy looked surprised for a moment, then grateful.

Yes, it really was that simple.

It was never going to be a permanent solution, but for the moment, it was exactly what they both needed.

Yugi gave him a quick peck on the lips in thanks and then started disrobing him, pulling Yami's school jacket off and then pulling the shirt off in one movement, tossing them both over to the desk chair and licking his lips.

Yami didn't really like the way that Yugi was looking him over, not like they had previously done. They had never really looked at each other. Just got their clothes off, kissed in the meantime, and then fucked.

Now, he got to look him over and his stomach felt strange with the realization. Yugi was actually looking at him, viewing his body, and he wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about that. Technically, of course, Yugi had already _seen _him naked, but they had never looked each other over like he was doing now.

His stomach twisted and his breathing came out a little strange, different, slightly faster but slower still, caught somewhere between a hyperventilation and slow and even breaths as if he were sleeping. Yugi seemed to suddenly lose interest with his upper body and instead jumped up and started to pull off Yami's shoes, dropping them and then stripping him of his jeans and boxers by tugging them off from the legs and the waistband of his underwear.

The air was too cold for him and he exhaled a hiss of discomfort that made Yugi's eyes flicker towards him for a moment before he started stripping of his own clothes, dropping them at the foot of the bed like they might burn him. When Yugi leaped up onto the bed again, straddling him, the taller teen found himself staring up at the ceiling.

He was not used to giving control in any way, shape or form, and the first time this had happened, bent over the armrest of Yugi's couch, he had been too distracted with his own thoughts to even really know what was going on.

Yugi felt a lot more empowered this time than he had the first time he topped. That time, Yami had been vaguely aware of what was going on, but this time he was acutely aware, definitely not about to sink back into his head anytime soon, and that was liberating. It was different, definitely, but he loved the feel of Yami's skin gliding beneath his fingers when he leaned over him and ran his hands up his chest to his shoulders.

Beneath him, the taller teen shuddered and moaned and his eyes flickered from the ceiling to focus on him completely, confused by the action and searching for answers that Yugi was not about to give him. Instead he leaned forward and their mouths were connected again, Yugi's eyes opening into slits to see that Yami was openly staring even as his mouth worked against his. Okay, so Yami was a little scared. That was fine. It was whatever.

He heard that a lot of tops who bottomed got scared.

It was whatever.

Yugi opened his eyes all the way and regarded the red gaze in front of him, finding that it was blank but confused and void of fear. So that meant Yami was hiding it. Again, whatever.

Fingertips trailed down his neck and to his chest, the appendages touching his nipples. He rolled the pebbled skin between his fingers and Yami went wide-eyed before moaning into his mouth. Yugi smirked mentally and pulled back to take one of them into his mouth, feeling the breath that Yami moaned with and then closing his eyes as fingers grabbed at his shoulders.

But that was only one hand and Yugi was confused about the other as he alternated between his nipples, his movements making Yami moan and arch and squirm beneath him, but his mind still lingered on where his other hand was. It only took a small glance to the left to find that Yami had his right hand digging into the mattress, gripping the sheets until his knuckles turned white.

Yugi was a small bit dissatisfied with this and so went about teasing his chest until finally Yami's grip loosened and he was panting, back still arched. When his fingers finally fell away from the sheet to join his other hand on his shoulder, Yugi smirked in triumph before pulling back some and moving between his legs, tapping his knee to make him open them for him.

It was kind of strange yet extremely exhilarating that Yami complied with him and even knew what he wanted without words. It was so simple and Yugi loved it.

Yami raised his head a little to watch him but Yugi ignored this, rubbing his anus with his knuckles for a few moments before finally inserting his first finger. Yugi didn't miss the way that he flinched slightly and then squirmed, not out of pain, but pure discomfort as he curled his lip back in a small show of his sharp white canine. It took a few minutes but when he relaxed again Yugi went about pumping while Yami opted for calming himself down through small talk, muttering, "You, uh…fuck, wait a second, you're still clean, right?"

Yugi wanted to roll his eyes and snarl at him that he was the only person he had been with but the fear was legitimate as Yugi _had _told him that he was not a virgin before their first time and besides, there was that story about him being a sex slave, so it had merit. "Yes."

"Okay."

Yugi put a second finger in, a little surprised when Yami didn't react to it; when he looked up, Yami was still watching him, but he didn't look the slightest bit disturbed this time, instead relaxing without much time between entrance and pumping. When he started scissoring Yami squirmed and his face twisted out of discomfort, but he remained relaxed for the most part.

He looked slightly troubled, though, out of nowhere, and Yugi didn't understand it in the slightest. He couldn't remember if he had done the same with the smaller teen. He didn't think he ever actually had, not with just two fingers. Always with three, though.

Yugi raised an eyebrow but Yami just shook his head slightly at him and Yugi rolled his eyes before slipping in the third digit. Yami gripped at his shoulders hard, his nails scratching his pale skin, not quite painfully, but the sting that lasted told him that he had broken skin.

Well, at least he hadn't done as Yugi had. No, he scraped, he didn't bite into his skin with his nails and dig out flesh when he curled his fingers.

Yami didn't make a noise when he pulled his fingers away, not that he had really expected him to, since apparently the taller teen had completely missed it even when he was sure to thrust his fingers against his prostate the entire time.

He aligned himself and Yami watched him closely as he pressed into him slightly. His nails didn't dig into him until he got an inch in and then the nails started to bite his flesh and he cringed, stopping and waiting until Yami was ready again; unfortunately, Yami picked random moments to tense up out of nowhere. Obviously, he was terrified because he could go another inch and then tense, relax again, and then the next second he would tense again.

Yugi wanted to tell him just to fucking quit it, but decided against it. It was fine.

Besides, Yami didn't _have _to do this for him. Not by any means did he _have _to do it.

Yami was actually being nice and _letting _him do this. Like a gift. A gift born of sympathy or perhaps pity_—_though he honestly could not see Yami pitying someone because it just didn't seem like something the red-eyed teen would do—but a gift nonetheless.

When he was finally seated, Yami relaxed and looked at him for a moment, seeming almost unsure of what he was supposed to do and Yugi couldn't figure out what that stare he was giving him was for.

The smaller teen decided to just ignore it before leaning forward and pressing his lips against his again, swallowing a very odd moan that sounded half-choked. He felt strange, cold, but he was quickly getting warmer as they continued kissing, Yami finally rolling his hips as a signal for him to move.

Yugi could have been vulgar and pulled his mouth away, said that Yami was tight as all fuck, but he didn't, because that sounded disgusting to him, and because of course he was tight. It was his ass. All asses were tight.

Although, of course, not all people were tight asses.

He groaned at his own thoughts. What the fuck was wrong with him?

He pulled out to the tip and slid back in, feeling Yami sigh softly beneath him rather than seeing it. The exhale into his mouth spoke of mint and chocolate and stress and growing relief. It was strange, but it was great all at once.

Yami kept opening and closing his eyes the entire time and he only knew this because he could feel those eyes boring into his skin for limited intervals of time. Of course, he had no understanding of _why _Yami kept doing this, but he didn't bother asking either, instead pulling away and panting for breath.

Yami's ragged breaths ghosted over his face and made him want to purr but instead the taller teen took up the noise, the sound rumbling through him and bathing the air, warming it and making Yugi's skin tingle with it. His nerve endings sparked with delight at the noise and now, he wanted that growl.

Yami mewled when he pressed into his prostate and Yugi smirked but still that wasn't the noise he wanted. He buried his face into his neck and then nipped at the skin, moving faster and making the mewls spill from his mouth, but after a moment, he grew annoyed with the lack of growling. He wanted to hear that noise without the moan before it, to hear him unadulterated and wild.

His teeth sank into his neck and Yami's answer was the thing he sought.

The growl came out loud and clear, vibrated against his skin, and only grew louder when he pressed into his prostate. The noise was animalistic and pure, wild and maddening. Its timbre sent tremors up and down his spine with pleasure.

Oh yes, he definitely loved this sound.

The only problem was that it made him teeter of the edge sooner than he thought. It took him by surprise and his limbs grew too weak to support himself. Yami released against their stomachs but his growling only stopped when Yugi finally pulled his teeth away from his reddened skin.

Yugi pulled out a minute later, when he had caught his breath, and lay on his stomach next to him. Neither of them were tired enough to sleep but their muscles were tired and heavy and after a few minutes of just laying there, Yami reached over, startling him, and pulled him into him before falling asleep rather suddenly.

"It doesn't mean anything," Yami muttered later in the middle of the night. Yugi looked at him as he returned from the bathroom, surprised to see that he was sitting up and watching him closely, almost as if he expected him to pounce; then again, that was probably smart, because in all honesty, it seemed that Yugi was always the one to initiate since their first time when Yami was too drunk to really comprehend what he was even doing.

"I know that," Yugi answered, stretching once and then going over to the bed, laying back down, pulling the covers up, glaring when Yami didn't lay back down beside him, instead opting to stay as he was, twisting his torso partway and staring at him in the darkness only illuminated by the moonlight from the skylight and the yellow of the streetlight on the corner opposite the game shop.

"What _is_ this though?"

"It's called fucking. It happens sometimes. Would you just fucking lay down?"

"I'm being serious."

"So am I."

"Damn it, Yugi."

The smaller boy huffed and then pulled the blankets up a little more before closing his eyes, yawning, sneering, "What the hell do you want me to say? It's not some fucking life mystery, Yami. It's called chemistry. It happens between people. It's where you want to fuck all the time because it's where your body likes another person's."

Yami gave him an incredulous look that Yugi didn't see.

His voice cut off for a moment and then came out soft, quiet, no longer sneering, but not entirely friendly either. "Yami, seriously, it's nothing. It's…an infatuation, I guess. You fuck me, I fuck you, our bodies like each other. It's really that simple."

The taller boy tilted his head and then raised an eyebrow before nodding and pulling the covers up, lying back down and then looking at him when he realized Yugi was staring at him.

"It's nothing serious."

Yami nodded once.

"I'm not gay."

"Neither am I."

"We're just exploring an infatuation. That simple."

"It's just for fun."

"Exactly."

Yami finally closed his eyes and Yugi settled back for some more much needed sleep. And, of course, he woke first while Yami fled after he handed him another buttered blueberry bagel, the two of them exchanging a simple hello and then goodbye.

A simple infatuation.

Yugi smirked. Funny that he would be infatuated with a geek.


	8. Text Message

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Note: Story will be updated every Wednesday**

**Warning: TONS of cursing throughout story**

**Chapter Warning: Chapter has a little homosexual slander (use of word "fag/faggot"—I do NOT support it but it worked for the story so I decided to put it in there). **

**Homosexual Slander: It is in the conversation in the first part of the chapter. I didn't want anyone to be surprised or offended, so yeah...It's not in there often, just once or twice.**

Chapter VIII: Text Message

"Yami."

Joey, Tristan and Ushio all looked over at the brunette as she strode towards him; Mana and Mahado stood behind him, eyes widening as Yami looked at her and then turned to them and shook his head. Both of them nodded and then turned and walked off, glancing over their shoulders at him.

He wondered vaguely if they knew what he had done. But he highly doubted it.

"Tea, what—?"

"I don't need you three around. Go away," she snapped at the blond.

Joey looked at her for a moment and then glared at Yami for a minute before leading the other two away with him. The red-eyed teen found it odd that Yugi was not around but dismissed this as Tea stopped in front of him.

"What the fuck was that last week?"

Yami didn't answer, merely leveling her with a stare.

"Well?" she pressed.

"Well what? You got what you wanted. Or most of it, anyways. Let's be honest, shall we? You were using me just like I was using you. I just wanted to get a little relief from all the stress and you wanted me to be your first. We both got half of what we wanted."

"Are you a fag or something?" she spat suddenly.

Yami startled and his eyes stretched wide in shock, opening his mouth once before baring his teeth. "Don't call me that," he snarled back.

"So then you are. Great. That's just great—"

"I am not gay," he snapped coldly. "I gave you what you wanted. Can't you just leave me the fuck alone now?"

"You used me."

"And you used me. There were two of us in this equation."

"You didn't even get a boner."

Yami froze and blinked.

"You made out with me, touched me, fingered me, and you didn't once get a boner. So either you're gay or you're just fucking stupid. Because I am the best thing that could _ever_ happen to you."

"The best thing that could ever happen for him is if you left him the fuck alone."

Both of them turned towards Yugi as he strode forward. The smaller teen was not even really sure what he was doing, but under all the anger, Yugi could see the fear that was seeping through Yami's system and had come to his rescue.

Which was strange because he never came to anyone's rescue. It never paid off.

"Honestly, Tea, maybe you just aren't his type."

"Funny, coming from you, Yugi," the brunette hissed at him, stepping forward. "You're the one who has been in love with me since pretty much the day we met."

"I was never _in love _with you. It was a crush. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Why the fuck are you even in our business anyways? This is between me and Yami."

"And now it's between you and me."

"Explain that to me, because you were never in this conversation in the first place."

Yami looked like he was going to be sick as he watched them. Yugi stopped a step away from her and glared spitefully, seeming to fume as his eyes bore into hers; the smaller teen didn't miss that Bakura and Malik had stopped a few feet down the hall at the vending machines and were now openly staring at their cousin who seemed to be frozen in place.

"You're over here bitching about how you're the best thing he could ever have but you're not. You're not the best anything," Yugi spat, shaking his head and glaring. "And don't even _try _to make this about my crush on you, okay? Because that hasn't been here for a while. But here's the thing, Tea, Yami doesn't need some puppy dog running after him all the time or some bitch who wants things that she shouldn't. Shit, you think you know so much about him but you don't know anything. You know his name. You know his face. And that's it. That's all you know about him. You never even had a _basis _for a relationship with him. Fuck, even _I _know that. Shit, I know more about him than you do and you've been in love with the idiot for two years now!"

Bakura and Malik stared in shock for a moment and then looked at their cousin who had paled drastically and looked even sicker than he had moments before; his face was green around the edges, he had a small drop of sweat crawling agonizingly slowly down the side of his face from his temple…

"At least have a crush on someone who actually knows you _exist_. God, what is with _girls_? They always hit on the guys who don't even know that they exist. You like Yami, but Yami only ever spoke to you or _of _you the day that Joey and Tristan pranked you in PE and in the library when you flirted with him. What did you not get about him _dismissing _you? For fuck's sake, I could understand if you were a fucking _blonde—_"

"The fuck?" Malik snapped, making all of them look at him for a moment before turning back to the argument at hand.

"—but this is ridiculous. I mean, at least when I was crushing on you, you knew who I was. Maybe I was stuck in the friend-zone, but hell, at least you knew my name. Yami has never given two fucks about you in the first place. But then, you never gave two fucks about me either. So I guess you and I have that much in common."

"Is this some kind of way of trying to make me see that you would be good for me?" Tea asked sharply, rolling her eyes. "Newsflash, Yugi, that is never going to happen."

"I don't want you!" Yugi yelled, shaking his head. "And you're so fucking _dense _to think I do! God, Tea, you fucking—you make me want to beat my own head in with a baseball bat, that's how _stupid _you are!"

Tea's mouth fell open.

He grabbed at his hair and shook his head, spitting, "You don't understand anything, do you? You thought that when he was _ignoring _you, he was playing _hard to get_! No, he wasn't fucking playing _hard to get_,he was telling you there is _no chance_. Because there isn't. And there never _will _be. I mean, _honestly, _Tea!"

Yami couldn't take his eyes off the two in front of him, not even when he saw his cousins coming from his peripheral vision; they stopped a few steps away and watched with wide smirks on their face, obviously terribly amused by the small boy.

"You don't have friends in common. You never had any classes together. You don't have the same intellect level. You flirted with him in front of me when I still liked you. Do you _really _think that is attractive to _anyone_? You come off as a _slut _when you do that. It makes you look unfaithful. 'Oh, yeah, I love you, but by the way, I think I'm going to go ahead and flirt with him too, in the meantime, but don't worry, it's all just for fun'. Did you think that was how it worked? No, Tea, if you're going to be with someone, you're not supposed to flirt with someone while someone else is _clearly _crushing on you. And, by the way, you shouldn't string people along either. It might just come to _bite_"—he chomped his teeth loudly—"you in the ass."

Tea gasped and Yami stared with wide eyes but the other two started snickering behind their hands, struggling not to full out laugh at this.

"Because you know, maybe if you weren't such a bitch all the time, I might have been able to vouch for you, but not now. Instead you string me along like a puppy dog, then go and demand that Yami dates you when really all he wanted was a quick. Fuck." He was smirking and his face twisted cruelly as he added, "You don't meet the criteria because you're a maniacal _bitch _who wants, wants, wants, and never gives. What the fuck would you have to offer Yami anyways? What do you have to offer _anyone, _Tea? He couldn't even _fuck _you without realizing that you're fucking _crazy_!"

The sound of flesh colliding echoed through the hallway like a shotgun and all of them stared in shock before Tea seethed and snarled, "And you wonder why no one could ever love you" before turning and storming off down the hall to her homeroom.

Yugi didn't do the classic thing of touching his cheek where the handprint was; instead he spun around and pushed Yami who stumbled and hit the ground, staring at him with wide eyes as he snarled, "This is _your _fault!" before turning and storming off to his own class.

Bakura and Malik waited until he was gone before they gave in to their laughter, the noise bouncing off the walls as they helped him to his feet. "Holy fuck, that was awesome," the silver-haired teen snickered, shaking his head slightly and wrapping his arm around his shorter cousin's shoulders, chuckling darkly. "Please, _please _go finger-fuck someone else. I want to see if it happens again."

Malik howled with laughter again and Yami gave them blank looks before shaking his head slowly and pulling away.

* * *

Yami was seated next to her for the test which was the only reason his mind even went in that strange direction.

The brunette didn't look up except when she thought he couldn't see her but he was always watching from the corner of his eye so he caught her each time; it was safe to say he didn't draw attention to her looking at him because she had not done so with him so instead he let her stare until she was sated of her curiosity and turned away again to take back the task of doing her work.

Now Yami had no attraction to her and he still had yet to interact with her but seeing as she was right next to him at the moment, he honestly didn't try to stop himself from looking.

His red eyes drew in every single bit of her body, not for the sake of imprinting her being in his mind but purely because he honestly couldn't understand why he felt _nothing _towards her or any other female.

He would have shaken his head if he wasn't already watching as she started to shift awkwardly in her seat, acutely aware of his blatant staring; he tore his eyes away again and looked at his own test, slightly annoyed with his own thoughts but far from able to turn them off.

One in the back of his subconscious bit particularly hard, drawing his attention to the fact that he had messed up royally and odds were, whatever little thing there was between himself and Yugi was gone.

He wished he could have been relieved but he was far from it.

In fact, the only thing he actually felt was pure, unfiltered dismay.

And he didn't know why.

But he did know that now was definitely the time to see to it to test Yugi's little theory of seeing if another girl would "do it for him" where Tea had failed.

He was far from stupid, so he knew that Vivian would never do so, first because he didn't know her_—_at all_—_and second because she looked oddly like Tea did herself. And the thought itself left his stomach twisting and his lip curling back and his blood boiling in his veins because of his own stupid mistake as well as the million and one things that had gone wrong because of that simple, _terribly _stupid choice.

No, he had a few select friends of the female variety and if he was honest with himself, only _one _of them had ever gotten a reaction out of him aside from deep-rooted friendship.

So, really, he only had one option.

And yes, he dreaded it.

But he also knew she would never turn him away.

He hated himself for his own knowledge of the girl's affection towards him. Because what kind of sick bastard would do these kinds of things?

* * *

Yugi did not encounter Yami again for two weeks. When they were even near each other or in the same room, they always put distance between themselves, taking opposite corners of wherever they were, never once bothering to acknowledge the other.

It was only because the project was due in a month and a half that Yugi even approached him, waiting impatiently for the red-eyed teen to notice he was standing next to him as Mana and Mahado laughed and messed around; all laughter died when they noticed him and Yami looked confused before turning his head and staring at him.

"Library, tomorrow," he spat, turning and walking off before the other teen could get anything in edgewise.

"God, is he _still _bitter about that?" Mana said, rolling her eyes and flicking her long hair with the back of her hand like a supermodel.

It was meant to be a joke but Yami couldn't find it in himself to even crack a smile. "Well, yes, of course he is. I mean, I did finger-fuck his crush."

Mahado gave him a small smile even as his sister frowned slightly and gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sure he will get over it soon."

"He doesn't need to _get over_ it," Yami argued, shaking his head. "I was the one who messed up. I mean, he has every right to be mad at me. But, honestly, I don't understand why he would like her anyways. She treats him like he's her personal pet or something, always admonishing him."

"Maybe Yugi needs that," the other boy said with a small shrug. "You never know. What doesn't work for you could work for him."

"He gets treated like a goddamned slave."

Again he shrugged. "Yami, you and Yugi aren't the same. Maybe he needs that more than he needs someone who would coddle him. And besides, maybe she had the right idea in doing that. Yugi is a wildcard—"

"No one deserves to be treated like dirt!" Yami spat, getting up abruptly. "No one deserves to be treated like that. I don't _care _what the fuck someone thinks they need, that is _never _it!"

Both of them gawked as the red-eyed teen stormed off and Yugi watched with dark eyes, following his every movement and wondering what the fuck had just happened to make him leave like that. He was pretty sure it wasn't him who made him run because Yami had never left even when he was glaring daggers into his back and wondering why his eyes didn't have laser vision so he could fry him.

* * *

Yugi took one side of the table and Yami took the other. Yugi got two books and Yami got four. Yugi go four books and Yami got eight to outdo him. Yugi got mad and Yami smirked. Yugi threw things at him and Yami glowered. Yami glowered and Yugi smirked. But the rest of the time they ignored each other.

The entire area around them was actually empty; everyone in the library took places in other spots and no one sat near the two of them. Yami found this oddly hilarious. Were they really that scary?

Then again, the air around them seemed to vibrate with tension, angry and bitter tension and their avoidance definitely made sense in all honesty.

Ten minutes before the bell rang, Yugi finally got up and came over to his side, handing him his sheet and snatching his from him before he could object.

But as they looked it over, both of them ended up swapping them back and then looking over the other's shoulder before pulling back and snarling, "You copied what I wrote!" at the same time before glaring furiously.

"Well, great, now we have a copy of the same exact shit," Yami said with a roll of his eyes.

"No shit, moron."

"It's not just my fault. It's yours too. You can't just blame this on _me_."

"I'll blame it on whoever the fuck I see fit. And right now, you're the only one here."

Yami grabbed one of the books and then held it up. "Blame the authors because they're all bitches who recycled each other's work." The book fell with a resounding boom throughout the library when Yugi smacked it out of his hand. The librarians and several students looked up but couldn't find the source of the noise and instead went back to whatever they were doing.

"Son of a bitch."

"Why are you talking to yourself?" Yami questioned, raising an eyebrow. "And in such an angry _tone_."

Yugi looked ready to punch him but instead took a deep breath. "You fucking bastard."

"Again, why are you talking to yourself?"

"I am talking to _you_!" he spat.

"I know who my father is, though," Yami objected, smirking cruelly. "Do _you_?"

Yugi lunged but then stopped himself at the last second, pulling back and glaring at him fiercely. "I'm not about to get my ass suspended for you," he snapped.

"Surely you don't believe you could take me in a fight," Yami stated, bristling. "I'll break every bone in your body before you can even blink."

Yugi leaned forward and placed his face a mere inch from Yami's and then blinked several times. "Oh, but I don't _feel _very broken."

"We're not fighting yet."

"What do you call this exactly?"

"It's called a verbal spat—an argument. You had one with Tea two weeks ago."

Yugi grabbed at the collar of his uniform shirt and bared his teeth when he growled, "Leave her out of this."

"It's not my fault she never liked you." He pulled Yugi's arm away by pressing into the bundle of nerves on his wrist; Yugi snatched his hand away and glared at him before looking at it curiously. "Honestly, I didn't make her crush on me."

"I didn't make you finger-fuck her either and yet you did."

Yami frowned and then narrowed his eyes. "Yugi, we have to put this aside for right now. Our grade depends on it. And like you said, we could have fucked over the first one but not this one. It's forty-five percent of our grade. We don't do it, we don't pass, and we will never recover before second half of the semester starts."

Yugi chewed the inside of his cheek for a long time before closing his eyes and nodding; as much as he hated to admit it, Yami was right. There was no way to save forty-five percent of their grades in only three weeks when the project was turned in and finals started up. "Yeah, I know. When…when do you want to get together for this then?"

"I told you before that I can't go to your house so you would have to come to mine," Yami muttered, drumming his nails against the table and looking up at the ceiling with a small sigh of irritation. "I don't know, after school I guess?"

Yugi groaned. "I have to work at the shop. And then I need to clean up the house because Grandpa is coming home in a week."

"He's still in the hospital?"

"No, but his friend is."

Yami stared for a moment. "The man on the gurney?"

"Yeah, Professor Hawkins. Grandpa has been there since he was discharged." He sighed. "Hawkins will be okay, but Grandpa wants to be there with him for right now."

Yami chewed his cheek for a long time and then closed his eyes and shook his head; Professor Hawkins, another who had been in Egypt, another who would most likely recognize him if they were to ever meet. "Very well. I guess I will go with you to yours." He opened his eyes and then started digging into his pockets before pulling out a single small white touch-screen phone with a small button in the middle and two on the sides, unlocking it and starting to text. Yugi tried to read it but he didn't recognize the symbols that Yami used because they were hardly Japanese.

"What language is that?"

"Arabic."

And then, as the word left his mouth, Yami froze.

Yugi blinked in confusion. Why the fuck did Yami know Arabic? He himself knew Arabic, but that was because his grandpa taught him how to speak it. He could not read or write in Arabic for the life of him.

And yet, because Yami looked so alarmed, Yugi neglected to say anything.

He did, of course, make a note of the information for later use.

Who knew that later would only be fours hours' time?

The two got to the shop where Yugi manned it for two hours before deciding that it was too slow a day to keep it open as they needed to get their work done. When they got up to the living room, both of them took separate sides of the couch and continued working from there, using the coffee table to pass notes between each other as talking seemed to result in tearing each other's head off.

Half the time the things they wrote was what the other was about to record themselves, frustrating them both to no end as they finally scooted into the middle to sit next to each other and be able to see what the other was writing without pushing a paper between them.

His phone went off and Yugi had to admit that he liked the slender little white object. It had a nice simple ringtone to it, like bells sounding and then water rippling and one like fire crackling.

"I'm sorry," Yami muttered, taking it out of his pocket and unlocking it. "My cousins are texting me."

"Who's who?"

"Malik is the bells, Seto is the water and Bakura is the fire. It makes it easier to figure out who the hell is texting me before I read it," he responded, starting to type away. "I honestly hate reading a text thinking that it is from one person only to find out that it is from someone else entirely."

Yugi nodded. He had that same pet peeve.

He looked at him curiously and found that Yami was still rapidly typing in Arabic rather than Japanese, pausing occasionally before adding more words and then sending; it seemed to take forever for him to finally stop texting and look over, but when he did Yugi felt a little sick.

Yami had paled slightly and his eyes looked unfocused, different, shadowed and somewhat glazed over, the color returning to his face after a few moments but his eyes stayed the same and Yugi could see the pupils dilating slowly but surely as they adjusted to the muted light in the room. As they dilated, the haze lifted but that shadow and unfocused expression lingered.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing," he said quickly, turning away and starting to write with a sideways glance towards the taller boy who narrowed his eyes slightly before turning back to his own work.

"Hey, uh…why did you put those as their ringtones?"

Yami didn't pause in writing, not looking up. "I…Because, and I know this is going to sound really stupid, but it's their…elements. Like their personalities, you know?"

Yugi nodded and had no doubt that the red eyes caught the movement.

"So Malik is like the wind, Seto is like ice, and Bakura is fire. Obviously, there was nothing that was purely wind so I got this bell chime, and the only ice one was someone breaking ice and it was weird and hurt my ears."

"Wow, that's actually pretty cool."

Yami shot him an incredulous look. "If you say so."

"Well, I do, so ha."

The taller teen stopped short just as Yugi did, both of them staring at each other dubiously.

Had Yugi just messed with him? _Without _a sarcastic quip that was supposed to hurt?

For a moment they just stared at each other and then very slowly turned their attentions back to their work.

The atmosphere was no more awkward than it normally was so Yugi really wasn't surprised when it claimed the air and Yami didn't look the least bit surprised either, still going with his half of the project rather diligently.

Thank Ra there was no mention of his look-alike in any of these pages.

Then again, had Yugi never been to a museum before?

Yami wrinkled his nose and furrowed his brows in thought before turning his head and assessing the other boy who looked back after a moment; no, Yugi might have gone to one but he probably didn't stay long. He couldn't really see him being very interested in it in the first place.

History was probably a bore to him.

Something to excel at in class but nothing that he would actively study if he was not pushed to do so.

That was kind of sad but it made so much sense.

"May I have something to drink?"

Yugi's eyes stretched wide. May? Did he really just say _may_? He blinked a few times and then slowly got up with a small nod, watching as the little white phone went off and he turned his attention to it instead of him.

Yugi had literally never had someone ask him if they _may _have something.

It felt awkward to hear and definitely strange in his head.

"Soda, Gatorade or water?"

"Um…what kind of soda?"

Did he imagine it or was Yami hesitating?

"Sprite, Root Beer, and…Orange Fanta."

"Sprite, please."

Yugi snatched the green bottle from the fridge and frowned. Was he really raised to be this polite? It kind of irked him to be on the other end of it, but that was merely because he was unused to it. Others never said such things to him. It was always pretty much a demand and now Yami was respecting him and it was just _weird_, especially considering how often they fought.

When he got back to the couch, he found that the other boy had fallen fast asleep on his side, half-curled in the fetal position with his phone in his hand, threatening to fall out of his grip.

Kami, how long had he been in the kitchen?

He furrowed his brows.

That explained why Yami hesitated. Yugi had dragged him half out of his doze but upon choosing, when Yugi did not speak again and instead dwelled on Yami's behavior, he had taken it as a signal that the conversation was over and he was free to sleep.

Yugi frowned a little and looked at the notes that Yami had been writing before chewing his cheek. Should he wake him?

But he looked so peaceful and it seemed rude to wake him up. Besides, he looked kind of cute like that.

Yugi wasn't too daft to admit to it. Yami _did _look cute and innocent the way he was asleep. His face looked childish with his eyes closed despite the sharp line of his jaw and the mature features to his face. His eyelashes were long and practically touched his cheekbones. And his other cheek was bunched up from how it lay on his outstretched arm and the hand that lay on top of that. In his sleep he actually looked relaxed.

Yugi decided to let him be.

It was only ten minutes later that his phone rang and Yami's fingers twitched but the teen didn't respond otherwise and then Yugi was laughing when he realized that Yami had it set on the highest volume so that it would vibrate, possibly to wake him up, but it obviously wasn't working because he had yet to stir aside from his hand.

He slipped it out of his palm, happy that the phone was so small and smooth and coverless so that it fell from his fingers easily, catching it in his left hand and then putting it on the table.

Of course, like every other smart-phone in existence, its screen lit up with a green bubble of text. Yugi didn't look at it, of course, but after about the fifteenth text he finally got annoyed, wondering how the fuck he was supposed to turn it off if there was no power button.

No, there was a menu button, a list button and a back button.

And nothing else.

What the fuck?

Oh, the power button was on the side.

He started to press it when a single word in the text caught his attention.

Atem.

Who the fuck was that?

He looked the text over and then looked back at Yami with wide eyes.

_Atem, come on, answer the fucking phone already_. _It's important_!

Yugi glanced back at the text and then put the phone back down for a moment before finally grabbing it and sating his curiosity; Yami did not have it password-protected, which was good for him.

The bad part?

Most of the texts, but about three of them, sent from Seto and Bakura, were in Arabic. The further he scrolled, the more they came up in Arabic, but when he got near the bottom of the lists of texts, they became Japanese.

Which obviously meant that Yami used Arabic to keep his texts completely hidden.

But what the fuck?

Why the hell would he need to do that?

Yugi messed with the phone again, surprised when twenty new texts came rolling in right after the other, half in Arabic and half in Japanese, all from Seto Kaiba.

And then, slowly, came the question…How the fuck did Yami know Seto Kaiba?

Yugi knew him from his interviews as the CEO of Kaiba Corp. but that didn't explain how Yami had his _number_.

When Yami had said Seto, he had not thought he meant _Kaiba_. Because that would be bat-shit crazy to assume that Yami knew the Kaiba brothers.

But apparently he did.

Maybe that was who Yami had turned around to talk to that day at the hospital. Because he had turned away and walked off after a few minutes while in the meantime Rebecca and Bakura and Malik started flipping the finger at each other while Yugi had shaken his head and walked off with the blonde tailing him after sticking her tongue out and pulling on her bottom eyelids with her middle fingers before chasing him out of the building.

There was no way…how the fuck did—Yami said his _cousin _was in the hospital. He didn't say which cousin. Which meant, maybe it was Seto who had been in the accident? No, oh crap, how could he have _forgotten_?

Yami said, "Yeah, I haven't heard any news about Mokuba" that day on the couch.

Mokuba. Seto Kaiba's little brother.

Oh shit.

That meant Yami was _related _to the Kaiba brothers.

He looked at the taller teen behind him who was still fast asleep and tried to picture it. The three of them had _nothing _in common—except, maybe Mokuba's tiny size. Because according to the news reports, he was _tiny_. Utterly tiny.

But Seto was taller than Joey. Not by much, but he had about an inch or two on him.

Yugi put the phone on the table and got up.

Now, okay, so Yami was related to them—and that _also _explained his little comment about his parents that went uncompleted in the mall that day since they _worked _for Kaiba Corp. so he must have known both about the _two _remarriages and divorces as well as their lack of involvement in his life—but that did nothing to explain why Seto called him "Atem". What the fuck was with that? Atem…that was a name, right? That had to be a name.

Wait, hadn't he heard that in a story with his grandfather? Yes, actually. Grandpa told him that Atem was a god of some sort—a sun god, maybe? No, he didn't really think he was a sun god. Crap, Yugi couldn't remember it for the life of him; the shock was still in his system and overriding his thoughts for the moment.

Internet. The internet would have the answers. It always did.

He leaped to his feet and took off into his room.

It took a second to start up his computer but as soon as it was on, Yugi was in the search engine, rapidly typing and looking up "Atem". A bunch of them came up saying that it was a god of some sort but that explained nothing so he continued until the fourth page in which the answer was clear.

Atem was…

Atem was the pharaoh of Egypt five thousand years ago, wielded the Millennium Puzzle—a symbol of power that was _said _to harbor the power of darkness, died at the age of seventeen. Yeah, that didn't exactly help him out now. This guy was dead and Yami—that was who Yugi knew him to be and that was what he would call him—was very much alive and asleep only a few feet away from him.

He scrolled through the results for a long time, pursing his lips in frustration, and then finally clicked on a link that said "Newborn looks like five-thousand-year-old pharaoh" and nearly choked when he saw the picture. That was Yami—granted it was a baby picture, but it was still Yami—right next to the tablet. Another shot showed Yami at the age of six, and a few more until he was thirteen and then they just stopped. The website said that Yami was named after his ancient look-alike ancestor. It said that his current status was unknown as no one had seen him in Egypt for over two years.

A few comments read that he was probably dead. A few others said that was ridiculous and his parents were just keeping him under lock and key while the shit-load of crap his family was under was being sorted through. A few others read that he had been captured and probably being held for ransom or something.

Yugi had to scroll up to the top again to see the comparison pictures to see that underneath each of the photos was the caption "The son of the ambassador of Egypt looks like his five-thousand-year-old ancestor." There was even a picture of a computer-generated photo of the pharaoh using old hieroglyphics to make an accurate portrait; Yugi choked when he saw the two pictures side by side. The only difference between the two was the eyes. And those were so alike it was amazing.

The pharaoh had flecks of a deep, violent shade of dark purple surrounding the pupils of his eyes and Yami's were completely red with no other color. But the shape, the long lashes, the stance they held, the way their heads were held, the shape of their jaws, and the hair were exactly the same. The only difference outside of their eye color was the fact that Yami was several shades lighter in his complexion and Atem had a deep tan coloring to his skin.

There was a snarling sound behind him, a noise of pure rage, and Yugi spun around just in time to see Yami before he was tackled to the ground and pinned there. "Who the fuck do you think you are?" the red-eyed teen spat at him, glaring angrily. "You went through my fucking text messages!"

Yugi squirmed—or at least tried to—and Yami turned his body slightly, just slightly, and then Yugi couldn't move at all. His limbs were pinned too effectively, his body was weighed down with Yami's when he distributed his weight just enough to keep Yugi's arms pinned with one hand around his wrists which were restrained over his head and a single hand in the center of his torso.

"W-what…what are you doing?" he managed, eyes wide.

The air practically vibrated with his anger and Yami's eyes were wild, darkened with a terrible rage that made Yugi want to hide under his bed. This was Yami's wild half in action. Yugi had never really wanted to see the boy pissed off and at his worst, and yet this was exactly what Yami was showing him.

"You went through my text messages," he repeated, his lips curling back to show off his teeth. Yugi felt terror well through him as soon as his eyes settled on Yami's teeth; his canines were unusually sharp and looked like they could tear his flesh open if he so much as applied a little pressure. He'd seen those teeth on Malik and Bakura and he'd witnessed a fight between the two of them in which both of them had pulled back with bite marks; Bakura had bitten him when Malik had pinned him and Malik had bitten him when Bakura got him in a headlock. The bite marks had welled up with blood from where their canines had broken the skin.

"I…You were asleep and Seto—"

"My _cousin _texts me," Yami spat, "and you think that because I'm asleep, you can go _through my phone_?"

"N-no!" Yugi stammered, still staring at those sharp teeth and swallowing hard. "I just—h-he texted you and when you didn't answer he started texting you over and over and I was going to wake you up but I saw the name 'Atem' instead of Yami and I…I got curious. I'm sorry!"

Yami continued glaring at him, head tilting to the side angrily, and then pulled away, his jaw flexing as he went over to the laptop and started to clear out his history. Yugi watched him without objection and when Yami got through the four pages of his search about Atem, Yami spun on him so fast Yugi fell backwards again out of shock and fear. Yami merely stared at him, expression hard and cold and disgusted.

And then suddenly he was gone.

Yugi stared after him as he walked out of the room and hesitated to follow; when he got up, Yami was suddenly there and he was on his ass again out of surprise. Yami held his phone in his right hand, shaking it at him with a look like a wolf staring down its prey. "You went through this," he said in a low, deadly calm voice that made Yugi's bones chill with horror. "So tell me what the fuck gave you any right to do it."

He flinched and shook his head, looking away. "I didn't have any right to go through it."

"Look at me, damn it!" Yami spat angrily, making Yugi's head snap around to look at him in shock again. "Do not fucking look away from me when I am talking to you."

Yugi flinched and stared, eyes widening further. Yami was in some state of wilderness that made Yugi want to hide under a rock somewhere.

"Now, repeat what you just said."

"I…I said I didn't have any right to go through it."

Yami sneered at him. "'I didn't have the right to go through it'."

It was odd, because the fact that his voice lowered, that he didn't scream at him, scared him much worse than anyone else had managed to do to him all sixteen years of his life and he was seconds away from pissing himself.

"So then why the fuck would you _assume _that just because my cousin calls me 'Atem' instead of Yami you have the fucking _right _to go through my text messages?" he spat, looking ready to attack him for a moment before instead running his hands through his hair and settling for just glaring at him. "I fucking hate presumptuous assholes like you. I fucking hate them."

Yugi flinched again but didn't speak, seeing that Yami was clearly not finished.

"You know what? This makes you a fucking liability. Someone finds me and they might just fucking find you too. Did you ever think that knowledge is a burden and _not _a power?" Yami hissed at him, walking closer and making Yugi scoot back into the bedpost; he hit it hard and let out a sharp gasp of intense pain, eyes widening. Yami didn't falter and instead got in front of him and crouched there, getting to eye level with him. "No one was supposed to fucking know about this. Do you not realize that?"

Yugi didn't answer and then trembled when Yami barked, "I'm talking to you!"

"I—I…N-no?"

"Why the _fuck _is there a _question mark _at the end of that?"

"S-sorry."

"Stop stuttering."

Yugi couldn't answer because he was pretty sure he would have ended up stuttering if he opened his mouth and tried to force a response. Yami didn't make him talk. Yugi watched as he got up and pulled away from him, stepping back a couple of times and then looking at his phone. It wasn't until Yami was out the doorway that Yugi realized he was about to leave; he got to the living room just as Yami was grabbing his canvas bag and tackled him so hard that they both hit the backrest of the couch and sent the piece of furniture toppling over.

Yami struggled beneath him but Yugi managed to pin him down, steeling all of his muscles and making it impossible for the taller teen to get out from under him.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Yami snarled at him, no longer struggling and now just looking at him with a furious expression; Yugi kept him pinned on his stomach, his legs locking Yami's in place against the fallen furniture and his hands holding Yami's behind his back.

"What did the articles mean? They said that there was something going on with your parents?"

"Oh, so you think you can go through my stuff and then demand answers?" Yami sneered at him, very suddenly bucking sideways and rolling them over; the speed and impact of Yami's weight left him breathless and the taller teen had him pinned in a millisecond. "Fuck you."

Yugi squirmed but just like in his room, Yami's grip was infallible and impossible for him to get out of. "Yami—"

"Aren't you going to call me Atem?" he spat angrily, eyes wild and leaving Yugi shocked. "I mean, you know that's my real name so why aren't you calling me by it?"

Yugi swallowed hard. "I only know you as Yami."

"Yeah, aren't you lucky? You only got to experience Yami. You never had to deal with Atem. But we can't all be as lucky as you, can we?"

He blinked and Yami released him rather suddenly, getting up and hopping over the couch's base before grabbing his phone back from where it had fallen from the impact; Yugi pulled himself into a sitting position and watched as the taller teen started texting rapidly, arms crossed and expression less than happy.

Did Yami hate himself? Or…rather, part of himself?

Because it sure sounded that way when Yami spoke. He spat his name like it was poison and his voice had been so dark and murderous that Yugi had had a brief moment where he thought Yami might do just that.

Yami's phone ringing startled him out of his reverie and Yami was suddenly glaring at him. "Keep your fucking mouth shut," he snapped, pulling the phone up to his ear; Yugi wasn't sure what language he was speaking but it definitely wasn't Japanese so he guessed it was Arabic. But he was still too freaked out to really try to figure what was being said.

"Hello?"

Yugi listened to some other voice, sharp, nasty, brutal, snapping at him from the other end and Yami merely turned his head and stared at the ground with his jaw set. Yugi didn't think it was fair that Yami only got that one word out before the other voice started barking at him, especially not when, three minutes later, the phone disconnected and Yami stared at it for a moment before pocketing it again.

"You know, if I were in some kind of stupid movie, I would have my team of secret agents hunt you down and kill you for knowing this crap," the red-eyed teen said suddenly, turning to him and staring with a brutal expression that made Yugi flinch again. "Aren't you lucky you aren't in a movie?"

Yugi let out a small breath and Yami's eyes narrowed for a moment before he turned away again and crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head.

"I am so screwed."

"Yami, I—"

"_Don't_," Yami snapped, spinning on him. "Don't fucking talk anymore. Don't apologize because it doesn't fucking _matter _if you're sorry or not. Don't ask questions because then I might feel _obligated _to answer you. Don't look at me because I feel like my head is going to explode."

Yugi blinked and then turned away, listening as Yami took a few deep breaths and then started pacing. Yugi let his eyes wander and spotted Yami moving back and forth quickly, jaw clenched and hands running through his hair in frustration. Whatever it was that scared him so badly, Yugi had obviously just released it to bite him in the ass.


	9. Common Courtesy

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Note: Story will be updated every Wednesday**

**Warning: TONS of cursing throughout story**

**Chapter Warning: Chapter is rated MA (Mature Adult) for sexual content (lemon) and homosexual slander (use of word "fag/faggot")**

**Homosexual Slander Warning: The word is used as a self derogatory statement by one of the characters in first half of chapter. **

**Lemon Warning: If you want to skip the lemon, don't read past the statement "Hmm. So you say"**

**Lemon Note: This lemon is actually VERY important to the story. It's heterosexual however, so definitely not Yugi and Yami.**

Chapter IX: Common Courtesy

Atem Sennen…

And the first thing that popped up?

His father, whose name Yugi could not pronounce for the life of him. Too many letters. His head swam just _trying _to pronounce it.

But that wasn't what caught his attention.

No, beneath that.

The ambassador of Egypt.

Anti-gay activist.

The rallies he had been to against gays. Over two hundred and just in the last two years alone. He made posters and banners and spoke and led a massive campaign online against them.

He called them abominations. He slandered them. He said that men were only meant for women, that they were meant to reproduce, that being gay defeated the purpose of their species, of _any _species.

Good Kami, Yugi had to wonder if he knew that _lions_—the official animal of his campaign—had homosexual tendencies. And Yugi knew this from the zoo, from National Geographic Channel and from the safari he went on in which two male lions had bumped uglies right near the car that they were in.

No wonder Yami freaked out. It definitely made sense.

Especially when he read the statement "If my children were ever to be of such a crime, I would no longer have them as part of my family. And my wife supports this decision."

He grimaced as he deleted the history of the page he had just been on.

Yami sat a few feet away from him, texting in Arabic, cursing softly under his breath, whispering some kind of prayer to Ra…

"Are you praying to a Duel Monsters card?" Yugi snapped, turning his head.

"Ra, the Egyptian god. Solar deity. Identified with the sun god Atum."

"That's who you are named after, right?"

"Wrong. My ancestor was named after him. I was named after the pharaoh."

"Okay, don't get snippy."

Yami looked like he wanted to take his head off so Yugi shut his mouth and turned away; then the muttering started again and Yugi was left with Yami's voice soft and quiet and nearly inaudible as a constant reminder in the back of his head that he had just fucked up big time.

After two hours of trying to calm the boy down, now he sat here and whispered prayers to a god that he probably didn't even truly believe in. And this, Yugi knew, was as calm as he would get him.

"I have to go."

When he stood Yugi followed him immediately, grabbing his arm and restraining him, making his head snap around with narrowed eyes because a second later, his hand was freed and yet _again, _Yugi could not understand how the fuck he did it.

"You can't go, Yami," he argued. "It's past midnight. I'm not going to be responsible if you get murdered or something. You could get kidnapped."

"No one wants a faggot as a captive," Yami snapped back. "Who the fuck would _possibly _want a faggot captive?"

"Gay men with young teenage fetishes."

He was shoved roughly backwards and hit the table with his shoulder, hissing in pain as Yami glared down at him, spitting, "Do _not _joke about this. It is not funny. And right about now, it makes me want to rip your goddamned head off."

Yugi gave him a look of pure shock before nodding once and frowning. "I'm sorry."

"Shut up."

The taller boy grabbed his notebooks and started to slip them into his bag.

"I was serious," he stated, getting up. "You will not leave, Yami. I won't let you. I swear on every deity in existence that I will tie you up if I fucking have to, but you are not leaving."

"I'm not going to get kidnapped. Kidnappings almost never happen around here."

"Yeah, and escaped convicts barely happen either but it happened last year."

"Escaped convicts are more likely to happen than a kidnapping."

"I think you're just being stupid."

"And I think I should wring your neck."

"I think you shouldn't do that but you should definitely stay here tonight."

"Nothing good ever comes of me being here."

"Yeah, but at least you would be safe."

"I'm not safe when I'm around you."

"What does that mean?"

Yami gestured to the computer screen. "You know damn _well _what that means."

Yugi swallowed hard. "Yami, no one is going to find out."

"That's bullshit and we both know it. It will get out and I will be destroyed. Completely and utterly."

"It will not and you're going to be _fine_."

"No, Yugi, I won't be. And you want to know why I won't be 'fine'? Because when this gets out, my father will disown me. My mother will turn her back on me. My family will be the laughing stock of Egypt. I mean, look at that. My father speaks of how I am straight and will marry someone of power and his goddamned son is over here shacking up with the smallest teen in _existence_ who has a reputation as a bad boy who craves so much fucking attention I wouldn't be surprised if he was off fucking everyone else _while_ he was going at it with me. Let's not forget that I am expected to have children to carry on my bloodline and I'll probably get a goddamned STD before I even turn seventeen next February."

Yugi gawked at him. "Okay, I'm not _that_ much of a whore," he snapped. "I stick to one person and one person only."

That was true at least.

"And you're not going to get an STD if you aren't fucking anyone else on the side either, Yami."

"Of course I'm not fucking anyone else on the side," Yami spat, shaking his head and starting to comb his fingers through his hair. "As I told you before, Yugi, not everyone is a slut like you."

The way he enunciated the words made him sick. Yami thought he knew him _so _well, but he had no fucking idea who Yugi Motou even _was_, not that it helped much that Yugi didn't think he did either.

"Damn it, Yami."

"Shut up."

Yugi swore that if Yami told him to do that again he would punch the shit out of him, no matter if he struggled against him or not. He was getting tired of being told that and he would kick his ass if he had to.

Not that he really felt he needed to…

"If it makes you feel better, you can sleep in my room and I can sleep on the couch out here."

"No, what would make me feel 'better' is if you would knock it off and let me go _home_."

"No, you could get kidnapped."

"The only kidnapper in Domino City is _you_."

"That's not true. You came here willingly."

"Just like a two-year-old will follow a stranger around for ice cream."

"Huh?"

"I came here with you. But you are not letting me go. This is just like a two-year-old following a stranger around for ice cream. And then being kidnapped when they won't let the two-year-old go."

"Are you calling yourself a toddler?"

Yugi hit the ground with a pulsing pain in his jaw just in front of his left ear and it made his head spin. Fuck, that kid hit _hard_.

"Oh my fucking god! What are you? A goddamned _masochist_?" Yami spat, glaring at him.

Hmm, so Yami's hits weren't the only things hard.

"Far from it. I'm a sadist."

"Fuck you."

"Anytime."

Both of them glared at each other for a moment.

"I need to get back to my house."

"You don't _need _to do anything. You're just running."

"I promised Mokuba…"

"I am _sure _that if you told your cousin you were a two-year-old following a stranger around for ice cream, he would understand," Yugi said condescendingly.

Yami's eye twitched. "If you're holding me captive and I slit your throat, it's counted as self-defense, you know."

"Oh, you would like that, wouldn't you, baby?" he cooed.

Yami grabbed him so fast he got whiplash. He jerked him forward with his teeth bared and gleaming, a mere inch from his face, snarling softly as he tightened the grip on the collar of his shirt. "Don't you dare fucking call me that," he spat, shoving him back; Yugi didn't budge but Yami released him anyways and stood straight again, glaring at him angrily. "Besides, I think they would surely make an exception for the ambassador's son who can do no wrong."

He rolled his eyes and Yugi smirked slightly.

"Someone has daddy issues."

The dark red eyes flashed angrily before he turned away again, grabbing his canvas bag and phone before starting for the door only to be blindsided when Yugi tackled him and pinned him to the ground, hands around his throat.

"I already told you that you aren't leaving."

"And I am telling you right now that I _am _leaving so either back off or I will hurt you, Yugi."

"You wouldn't."

"You're pushing at extremities you know nothing of."

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"Exactly. Now get the fuck off me before I beat the crap out of you."

"Agree to stay here tonight."

"Nothing good ever happens when I am here."

"So the sex isn't good?"

"Sex is the _problem_!" Yami spat, suddenly kicking him hard in the side and winding him for a brief moment; when the taller teen went to pull away Yugi grabbed him hard with a hand around his throat and a knee against his groin. Yami froze and Yugi smirked widely at him.

"I can fight, Yami, I just prefer not to. But try to move again, and I will make sure you can never have kids."

Yami stayed still, but his eyes spoke of murder.

"Good, now let's talk this over, shall we?"

"There is nothing to talk about. I am going home."

"You're not. You are going to stay _here_."

"I will not," he spat incredulously with an undertone of indignation. "I refuse to remain here. And you will let me go or I _will _hurt you."

"Want to see how much we can hurt each other? I've had years of bullying, Yami, I can take a few hits. Plus, I know how to fight so I could lay a few nasty blows on you too," he snapped as that smirk grew tenfold, seeming to nearly split his face open. "Pick your choice."

Yami glared at him for a moment and then started to push him, possibly to punch, and that knee in his groin came closer to impacting him; his movements ceased again, blinking before snarling softly with his teeth bared.

The two of them remained like this, a tangle of limbs ready to harm one another at a single moment's notice, face mere inches away from each other, eyes narrowed into glares, one's face fierce in expression while the other looked at this as if it was some kind of joke that was so entertaining it threatened to break his face.

Yami released where he was gripping his shoulder and Yugi pulled away from him so that Yami could sit up and stare at him, the two of them watching one another closely, suspiciously. Yami scooted up towards the wall and stared at him while Yugi looked ready to pounce at any moment; in all honesty, Yami had experienced how fast that small boy moved, how his lithe little body was wily with muscles beneath the surface of his skin, and he was not really looking forward to being thrown to the ground again.

Besides, he was still so tired. So terribly tired.

And he knew Yugi wouldn't hurt him.

If not for this he would have fought tooth and nail, genitals and future children be damned. Besides, he didn't even _want _fucking kids. What if they fucked up? He would have to deal with it. Oh a dead body? Let's go dig a grave in the backyard. Neither of us will say anything, okay?

Yami rolled his eyes. Children were nothing but fucking annoying creatures that he never wanted to have to interact with. Not before the age of six anyways. Anything before that and he would happily stab it to death with a fork. Of course, he would never say this out loud, because what if a kid really _was _stabbed to death with a fork? He would be the first suspect.

Yeah, so he wouldn't tell anyone about that.

He would put out the mild, middle version.

_Babies are stinky, they poop too much, they cry too much, and I don't like them_.

Yeah, that was it.

Yugi gave him a confused look.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

He wasn't even moving anymore.

Yami wrinkled his nose in distaste and then sighed before rolling his eyes up behind his lids like someone going through an exorcism. "Whatever."

"Good, now that we have an understanding," Yugi announced, getting up. "Go to bed. My room. Sleep in it. I'll be out here. And I'll only say this once, Yami. I'm a light sleeper so if you try to run off later, I'll jump your ass."

Yami raised an eyebrow and then glowered before falling short with the motion. He was too tired to even keep his face twisted the same way. Much too tired.

He laid his head back against the wall for a moment and then got up and walked back into the bedroom, dropping his backpack on the couch before wandering off into Yugi's room again, texting before turning off his phone and laying down.

The morning came much too soon. Yugi sat up like something had burned him, head turned towards him as he strode into the kitchen, ignoring his existence altogether; he was too hungry to bother with him, grabbing a bagel and toasting it in the toaster and then buttering it while Yugi got up and slowly trotted into the room after him.

The only good thing about this unorthodox sleepover was that Yugi did in fact keep his promise and slept the whole night on the couch. Not once did he try to sneak into his bedroom like Yami would have guessed. But the rest was horrible.

Yami was so jumpy that every little sound anywhere from a pair of cats either fighting or mating somewhere outside to a branch that hit the window woke him and made him sit up to look around and have a moment where he was confused and couldn't figure out where he was before he night's events would catch up with him again; he was uncomfortable and felt oddly lonely and couldn't sleep to save his life and when he _did _finally fall asleep, his tossing and turning woke him up at seven in the morning and he couldn't fall back asleep although he didn't really bother at that point, instead opting to check his phone and then turn it off again to conserve the battery.

Oh, his phone was going to die soon.

He rolled his eyes. How lovely.

He hated that about his phone. It was a smart-phone so of course its battery life had to suck as opposed to his old phone which went three weeks without charge. But he only used that for emergencies anyways.

Ha, that was all he used phones for as it was.

Yami ignored him as he took a seat in front of him and stared almost expectantly, not even bothering to glance in his direction as he continued happily eating his breakfast before licking some excess butter on his fingers. No, he was not oblivious to the way that Yugi's eyes were trained on this, darkened with lust and filled with confusion and guilt all at once.

"Fuck, okay, I'm sorry, Yami!" he snapped, rolling his eyes.

Yami ignored him and went back to licking butter off his fingertips.

"How long are you going to go on ignoring me? It's annoying already."

He was watching him closely so he actually caught it when the small tug on the right side of Yami's lip anchored a momentary smirk before disappearing altogether.

"Yami, I really _am _sorry for reading your text messages and looking you up online. I didn't mean to make you mad. I just…I was curious and…I'm seriously—"

Yami covered his mouth with his hand and Yugi looked at him with wide eyes. "Your apology is fucking annoying," he grumbled, pulling his hand back with a roll of his eyes, glowering slightly at the butter he left on the counter before getting up and going to put it back in the fridge.

Yugi tracked his movements with his eyes, twisting around to look at him and watch as he turned back.

"I apologize for hurting you last night."

The smaller boy gave him a confused look and Yami tapped the spot in front of his ear, telling Yugi without words to do the same; pain seared through his skin with the contact, realizing that he probably had a really nasty bruise.

"Nothing a little makeup won't cover up," he muttered, shrugging and looking him over. "But seriously, I'm sorry about yesterday."

"It doesn't change anything so I don't know why the fuck you are bothering."

"It's…common courtesy."

Yami tipped his head to the side with an incredulous look. "Is it?" he responded in a low voice.

Yugi gave him a confused look but nodded.

"Hmm."

His phone vibrated in his pocket and Yami unlocked the screen, the light making his eyes hurt before a small smile formed on his face. Oh, goody.

"I am sorry to cut this…reconciliation short, but I must be going."

That confusion tripled as he furrowed his brows. "Uh…okay…?"

Yami was out the door before the second word even left his mouth.

_So much for goodbyes_, Yugi thought with a huff, sitting back in his chair and glowering.

* * *

He answered on the second knock and gave her a wide smile as he allowed her to step inside, watching as dark violet eyes looked around the room and whistled softly before smiling at him. "Nice place."

Yami shrugged. "Mom and Dad pay for it, so it's really whatever." He closed the door and watched as she admired it further, walking around and looking everything over as it _was _the first time she had ever been there. Not that anyone was ever really allowed in here in the first place.

His house was not a place that he liked to be around people.

"So, uh…how are we going to do this?"

Yami blinked and then opened and closed his mouth before furrowing his brows. "I didn't really…think that far."

Her laughter was soft and twinkling and her eyes were full of affection as she looked him over, shaking her head slightly. Yami offered a small sheepish smile and then cleared his throat as he headed around the couch.

"Um…well, do you want something to drink first?"

"Ooh, refreshments first? You sure know how to spoil a girl."

Yami chuckled and shook his head, smiling over his shoulder at her and leading the way to the kitchen, opening the fridge for her.

She whistled again in appreciation. "Shit, your parents must be loaded."

He shrugged halfheartedly.

"You know, if this works, I'll marry you."

He couldn't help but laugh at her before shaking his head. "I'd marry you in a heartbeat, Mai."

"Ooh, so we're on the same page."

Yami chuckled again and paused to give her a small smirk of amusement before licking his lips. "Yes, I suppose we are," he agreed, shaking his head again and reaching in to grab a Sprite. "Do you want one?"

"What else do you have?"

"Cherry coke, Diet coke, regular coke, I don't know…a lot of sodas. I have varying cravings every other week so I like to stay stocked up on what I might want." He gave a small hum of a noise and brought out the Cherry coke, which upon mentioning had made her smile slightly. He handed it over and she took it from him before smiling wider and unscrewing the cap, her lips curving up into a smile as she sipped at the chilled soda. "I mean, I have a lot of fucking sodas."

Her lips did something funny as she swallowed a mouthful and Yami felt oddly stirred by it, but not as much as he thought he would be. But her eyes were smoldering and paid him attention that he had always thought was normally impossible to truly grasp, before slowly he began to realize that her eyes were full of adoration and lust.

It affected him in a different way than expected.

He shifted awkwardly and then looked at her before licking his lips again.

"I don't, um…I mean…I'm not a virgin, but…but…"

"You can say no anytime you want."

Yami shook his head slowly and put his own lemon-lime soda down on the counter and leaned against it, biting his lip and offering a small sheepish twist of his lips. "I don't want to say no. I just…thank you for helping me with this. You really did not have to agree to this."

She shook her head. "Oh don't worry about it, Yami. It's fine. Besides, you've always helped me with things when I needed them. And friends help each other, no matter what," she said with a small smile.

"With things like this?"

"Sure. It's called experimentation. Everyone tries it out at some point. Or at least, seniors do anyways." She winked laughing violet eyes and wagged her eyebrows suggestively at him, the curve of her lips teasing in their wide smirk.

Yami barked out a laugh of pure amusement and nervousness. "Oh? And who have _you _been experimenting with?"

"Sadly, I experimented with that creep Ushio—"

"You mean, I…my penis…"

"We never got that far!" she objected, laughing harder than ever. "No, he—okay, he doesn't really count as experimentation. It was just a weird kiss that he gave me and I would rather label it under that than anything else."

"Oh…okay then."

She shook her head again. "You are such a strange boy."

"He probably has STDs. I can't put my penis anywhere near where his has been."

She cracked up. "Dear god, Yami."

He shrugged a shoulder lazily. "Honestly, Mai, I could never live with myself if that was to happen. I'd have to kill myself or something."

"Trust me, if Ushio and I had hooked up, I would not be here anymore. Besides, I hear he compensates with muscles to make up for having a micro-penis."

Yami choked on his own saliva. "Oh?"

She nodded eagerly. "Vivian was talking about it in the girls' locker room."

He raised an eyebrow in interest, leaning against the counter. "Who knew that Mr. I'll Kick Your Ass If You're In The Hallways When The Bell Rings was really Mr. Tiny?"

"Mr. I-K-Y-A-I-Y-I-T-H-W-T-B-R."

Yami blinked and then laughed. "Fuck, we need a new name for him."

Mai laughed softly with him before shaking her head. "You know, even if this doesn't happen, I love you," she murmured.

His eyes flickered down to regard a drop of condensation on the side of his dark green bottle. He was well aware that somewhere along the lines in the two years that he had known her, he had somehow drawn her in far closer than he had ever meant to and he felt horrible because it was so unrequited it was disgusting. He never thought of her that way. Not in the least. She was Mai. And Mai was nothing but a friend. "Mai…"

"I know you don't feel the same way."

"I…I'm so sorry."

"No, don't apologize for that," she argued, smiling at him. "You should never apologize for that. It's chemistry. It just exists or it doesn't."

"Why are you letting this happen?"

"I told you already."

He raised his head. "I know you heard about what I did to Tea. Aren't you worried I'll do the same to you?"

"Yami, you didn't even know her. It is _so _not surprising that it wouldn't work. It should have been obvious in the first place. You were never attracted to her."

Yami wanted to say he was never attracted to her either but they both knew that was a lie; she had worn an outfit that had him startled and blushing and hard on more than one occasion. But it was strange, in all honesty. It didn't feel natural like it did with Yugi. It felt like something had suddenly sprung through him, like it was an automatic reaction as opposed to one that he recognized would happen again later, like because he thought he was straight his penis took that as permission to try to jump out of his jeans.

"Are you sure you want to try this?" she asked softly.

"Are you sure you want to _let _me?" he retorted.

She smiled and snorted and shook her head. "Oh, Yami," she muttered, "it's hardly a problem by any means. I promise. If you want to back out, you should do it before we do anything. Because once I get started…"

Yami laughed loudly at her statement, shaking his head in amusement. "All right. But I'm not backing out. I have to figure it out."

Mai smiled and her dark violet eyes were kind. "Of course."

The good thing about this whole arrangement was that there were no strings attached. It was literally for experimentation, for fun, nothing like what Tea had expected from him or what seemed to happen when he was around Yugi. Nothing like that pulse that made his blood hum in his veins and his heart pound that much faster. No, that was between him and Yugi. And no one else.

And the knowledge of that did nothing but serve to scare him more.

Because he was pretty sure he knew what it meant. Even if he didn't want to acknowledge it.

It took a few minutes for him to make his feet move, to lead her to the bedroom. She looked around at the white walls, the beige carpet, the plush red of the bed, the dark royal blue of the pillows spread with some black between and a few white, the case of video games in one corner, the shelf of books in the other with a porcelain wolf statue in running motion sitting on the top of beautiful dark red-brown wood, the chest of drawers and the closet and even the single mirror in the back wall of that small room.

"I know it's probably not the most…um…I don't know…best?…room but whatever," Yami stated, gesturing vaguely with a single flick of his wrist.

When her attention drifted back to him, she had to admit that he was one of the most beautiful people she had ever encountered. He had that gorgeous golden-bronze skin tone, that sharp jaw and a mature face that still had childish expression to it, with a slender and lean builder that still screamed power beneath his flesh. He was small, much smaller than most in height, but his beauty made up for what he physically lacked in this way. His eyes were sharper than most, with dark lashes, thick and long and spidery, with eyebrows that seemed delicate, with a gaze that was as demonic and intelligent as it was childish and oddly angelic. His neck was slender and average, not too long and not too short, and his hair made his eyes and face even more beautiful and noticeable, with long strands of fire-tipped midnight and lightning bolts of gold that shot through the mess of darkness and bangs that shot out and framed his cheeks while accentuating the sharp curve of his jaw.

And in this pose, with his raised arm's wrist half rotated, his thumb up and his fingers half-folded into his palm, the bracelets on his wrist catching the gleam of the lamp light, his elbow pressed to the middle of the arm wrapped over his torso, his head tilted to the side so that his bangs cast shadows across his flawless skin, his eyes partly closed with a slightly bored expression, he was so beautiful that it hurt. His tight black leather tank top beneath his warm dark gray jacket with the silver lining, falling over his gray-black skinny jeans, made his complexion even more noticeable and warm and Mai felt a small tingle course through her.

For the night, he was hers.

It was only when he shifted his position slightly that she noticed his slender digits were shaking the smallest bit.

"Yami," she teased, watching as his eyes widened slightly in acknowledgment of his name, "you're acting like a scared virgin."

He chuckled and the timbre of it made her feel a small ache between her legs.

Hmm…he would definitely sound sexy moaning.

Now, if only he was taller and then he would be _perfect_.

But, of course, he was shorter than her, and though that didn't really bother her, it was a little strange. But then, that was what she got for being tall, she supposed. Most guys felt intimidated by her height as it was, high heels or otherwise.

"I might as well be."

Mai rolled her large violet eyes. "Oh please. It's hardly something to be so nervous about. I promise that you're okay. Besides, you still have one chance to back out."

Yami licked his lips, bit his bottom one, closed his eyes, drew it beneath his teeth and then smirked and opened his eyes, tilting his head further and crossing his arms. "No, let's do this. But if I lose my nerve?"

"Please, sweetheart, that's not going to happen."

"Hmm. So you say."

She snorted a laugh and strode towards him, licking her naturally pink lips, fighting back a purr when Yami greeted her hungry kiss with just as much vigor; he backed up, fell back against the bed and she laughed when he squirmed out of her grip and backed up towards the pillows.

"Are you pounding or am I riding?"

Yami gave her an unbelievably confused, adorable look that left her blinking in shock before her mouth fell open.

"You don't know what that means?"

Small bits of pink appeared unevenly on his cheeks as he squirmed beneath her for a moment. "Um…no?"

"Do you want to top or shall I?"

He opened his mouth to ask how the fuck she had a penis before realizing what she meant and then smacked his forehead before groaning. "I'm an idiot. Uh, I'll top. It's easier, right?"

"Either way works for me."

Yami grabbed her suddenly and rolled and she was pressed against one of the softest pillows she had ever encountered, momentarily stunned.

"Would you relax a little?" she asked, laughing when Yami's fingers trembled slightly as he reached for lace of her black corset, eyes widening slightly at her request before blushing furiously, ducking his head and busying himself with undoing the bow of it. Unlike all the other teenagers she had been with, he did not jump immediately at her breasts, did not try to pull her bra off with inexperience.

"The hook is in the back, right?" he murmured.

"Have you never seen a girl naked?"

Yami very slowly shook his head, frowning slightly.

She sat up under him and he moved to accommodate her, watching closely as she shrugged off her dark purple short jacket and shed it on the floor next to the bed, reaching behind her and unclipping her dark black bra to expose her D-cup breasts. Yami tilted his head as he looked them over and then felt her freshly-red-painted nails pulling on his jacket sleeves, easing the shoulders off gently with her own slender appendages, pulling it off with a gentle kiss against his lips, snaking her tongue into his mouth where she tasted overwhelming icy mint and dark chocolate that left her body aching with desire.

Even if this never happened again, she would be glad to experience it just this once.

Yami stretched himself, bent to accommodate her taking off his leather tank top, feeling her dark eyes on his abs even though he did not bother looking at her to see the lust that lingered there. Instead he went about unbuckling the two belts on her waist, the black with gray studs and the little pink one that actually held up her dark purple shorts. She did not bother to point out that he should have taken her knee-high leather boots off first, but he did it a moment later, unzipping them from the sides and then leaping off the bed like a cat, pulling them off and then ignoring the stockings for whatever reason, grabbing her shorts and lace panties and pulling them off.

She sat up, leaned forward, slowly ran her hands up and placed them on his shoulders before running them back down to the top of his hips, using her long nails to elicit a shiver beneath them as she put them to rest on the top of his jeans.

She pressed a gentle kiss to his jaw and he let out a low moan of a breath before allowing her hands to move on their accord to settle around his hips and up his back until they came to the nape of his neck. And when she looked up, she found that his eyes were closed and he was completely relaxed. She let her lips pull up into a small smile of contentment.

When she pressed her lips against his again, she was welcomed back into a cavern that was warm and wet and sent tremors up and down her back, made her core throb at the delicious taste.

Their tongues tangled and danced together and his hands moved to her hips, gripping them tightly in his fingers before suddenly she was pushed into the bed, one hand on her shoulder and the other still gripping her hip. His mouth grew needy, faster in its movements, harder against her soft lips, and she tangled her fingers into his hair, moaning into his mouth as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

She had to admit that she was oddly but _delightfully _surprised when his hands left her shoulder and hip to grip at her breasts, massaging until her nipples were as hard as rock beneath his palms. Mai had honestly never felt so claimed in her life, and she knew for a fact that Yami was not done.

Kisses, hot and wet, trailed down the side of her neck and to her hips before she realized that panting noise was both of them, their breath coming out in ragged whispers of sound. His knuckle brushed against her sex for a moment and he furrowed his brow before wrinkling his nose, looking thoughtful before parting her legs more at her thighs.

He pulled back and jumped off the bed again, pulling off his jeans and discarded them to the floor. His penis was free, but it was not as hard as it should have been; Mai blinked in surprise.

Maybe he really was gay, because he should have been leaking; she was using her best kissing skills, after all, and she was wet for him. He seemed to realize this as well and when he crawled back onto the bed, he drummed his fingers thoughtfully on the exposed sheet next to her, pursing his lips.

"How about I try a hand job? That might work," she offered.

He debated it and then slowly nodded consent.

Even flaccid, he had girth and she found herself just _barely _suppressing a purr as she grabbed the end of his penis and slowly pumped up and down before quickening her pace; Yami made a small noise in the back of his throat but both of them recognized it more as discomfort than anything else.

Mai gave him a small sad smile and he sighed before ducking his head into her shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

Neither of them was really sure who said it first, because it came out at the same time.

"Well, I promised you a night with me," Yami stated, suddenly crawling past her and reaching into the nightstand on the right side, the one with the lamp, pulling out a box of condoms and a couple of pills.

"What are those?" she asked, eyes widening.

"Viagra," he murmured, blushing slightly before looking the small baggy over, eyeing the white pills for a long moment before pulling it open and popping one of them into his mouth.

She was gawking when he turned back. "I…I can't believe you just did that."

"Mai, don't you know I love you too?"

Her lips twisted into a small sad smile. "Just not the same way."

He shook his head in regret. "I'm sorry."

"Yami, you shouldn't apologize for things you can't control. It's stupid."

Yami gave a small shrug of his shoulders. "I do stupid things."

"This isn't one of them."

His eyes turned incredulous. "You're biased."

"So are you."

A small soft hum was her answer, a noise of acknowledgment rather than agreement.

"So, um…how long do those take to work?"

"I think I read that it takes a half hour but I have to be sexually stimulated for it to work…"

"So we have half an hour to make that little cutie pie three times his size."

Yami flushed. "He is not cute. He's…um…intimidating."

Mai burst out laughing and hugged him tightly, shaking her head. "Oh my god, you are _so _my best friend ever."

He chuckled softly in her ear. "I better be. It took me a shit load of time to get those three tiny little things."

"How did you get those anyways?"

"I bribed a pharmaceutical boy to get it for me for two hundred dollars and then I had to wait around for three hours before he got off his shift and he could only snag three of them and I really only needed one, but whatever."

"Oh, you don't plan on a second round?"

"Oh, of course I do, considering it's you, but the website said never to take more than one a day and considering all the side effects that are possible, I was _not_ about to dismiss those instructions."

She snickered and then reached down and started pumping at his penis lightly; it twitched and stirred in her grip and she was fascinated by the way it seemed to grow as she continued her slow pace; Yami watched her curiously but did not comment and purred softly when she continued her movements. She paused at one point to run her nail along the underside and watched as Yami growled softly and trembled with the attention she gave his growing erection.

"He's so _cute_."

"Goddamn it, woman, you're not supposed to call a penis 'cute'. What the fuck is wrong with you?" Yami growled playfully.

"But gay penises _are _cute."

The male blinked and then buried his face in her neck. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"There is _nothing _wrong with you," she said firmly, fiercely. "If there was something wrong with you, I would have been the first to point it out."

He laughed, because it was true, and then watched as she plucked out a condom and tore the foil away, rolling it onto his erection and making him moan as his fingers sank into the mattress. Still, the feeling of the condom placed on him did not stop his train of thoughts.

"You're still on birth control, right?"

"Geez, you worry too much."

"Mai…"

"Yes, yes, I am on birth control," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "You won't be knocking me up anytime soon, Yami Sennen."

"Oh thank Ra. I hate kids."

She burst out laughing as he aligned himself. "You and me both."

"You think in thirty years, if neither of us is married, we could get married and then just like live together and then split rent while fucking people on the side? It'd be the _perfect _open marriage."

She laughed with delight and hugged him tightly. "Oh my god, yes. Let's do it."

He held out his pinkie and she hooked hers around it, laughing louder.

"Our wedding vows can be that we promise that if we hate the other's roommate they have to dump their ass."

"Oh yes. Let's do it."

Mai arched upwards and her breasts were soft and warm against his chest as she moaned softly with his first thrust. It was odd, but they found a rhythm eventually, though Yami felt strange the entire time because she was soft and wet and warm and loose but tight all at once, so unlike Yugi who had been hot and so tight that he was overwhelmed with the scorching heat he brought him.

But of course they were different. Gender, hair, face, eyes, body. Mai had curves that made up a perfect hourglass figure and legs that stretched for miles, strong as they wrapped around his waist. And breasts that looked like something you would have many sex dreams about just because they looked that good. And her hair was long and beautiful and platinum, curly at the end and wavy as they fell from her scalp to cascade down her shoulders. She had a little curly forelock that reminded him of Yugi…

Yami closed his eyes and her nails dug into his shoulders as he continued moving with her, their rhythm slow and easy and stunningly like his and Yugi's.

She was not tight but she was not loose.

Because she was no virgin. But she kept her pants on when she didn't want a boy in her and she had standards that were endless in depth, and she had those times when she felt she needed release and this was how she got it. It was honestly that simple.

Why couldn't he love her back?

Life would be so simple if he only could.


	10. Demon

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Note: Story will be updated every Wednesday**

**Warning: TONS of cursing throughout story**

**Chapter Warning: Chapter is rated MA (Mature Adult) for sexual content (lemon) and homosexual slander**

**Lemon Warning: If you want to skip the lemon, don't read past the statement "I was going up to the roof and then I realized I had to pee...so I came here. And apparently my copycat followed me" until you reach "Yeah, I don't think it's that soft either". If you don't think you're going to remember that, use F and Ctrl and type both phrases in, then delete the first phrase when you come up to it and use the Find function to get to the second part where the lemon is finished.**

**Lemon Note: The lemons actually DO serve a purpose, though, so yeah, I didn't just write it and post it without a reason...**

**Homosexual Slander Warning: The use of the word "fag/faggot" is used in several parts of the chapter—parts one, two, three and five.**

**Attempted Rape Warning: Rape attempts are mentioned in last part of the chapter. NONE of them are described. Just a warning.**

Chapter X: Demon

Yami was halfway down the street when his skin started to prickle. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end—nothing really different considering his hair was naturally gravity-defying in the first place.

But when he turned his head and looked over his shoulder, narrowed his eyes, he knew that it was someone following him because he had seen that car so many fucking times lately that it was not even funny.

No, it was around almost every corner when he looked behind him. It was hiding when he went to the hospital. It hid when he walked Mai back to her place. It also hid when he walked to and from Yugi's house. But it was never inconspicuous.

The car was too nice, too shiny, too dark to be inconspicuous. With the windows tinted to such a shade, it was a wonder that they were not drug dealers. But the car itself was empty this time.

He knew that because his instincts told him so. That this was the chance he had in which he would be able to get to the stupid car's plate. And that was exactly what he did. Because it was pulled over at the gas station, he hurried over, looking inside only to find that there seemed to be a bunch of fucking people in there.

Some of them had dressy clothes, others had regular clothes.

He had a fleeting moment where he thought maybe it was like the mafia but then shrugged it aside and went around a couple of shrubs to hide himself from any eyes as he looked the plate over.

And then Yami froze.

That license plate number…

That was one of his father's workers.

He had the plates memorized because his dad said that the political scandal had gotten larger. Things were blowing up there and while Yami hoped for the best, this was not it. Fuck, what was anyone with the goddamned Egyptian license plate doing _here_?

Had his father sent them?

But that made no sense because he would have _told _him if that was the case.

Which meant that he was not supposed to be there.

Yami searched his memory for any mention of his father saying that there would be a worker coming to Japan, but there was none.

Of course there was none.

Because this fucker wasn't supposed to be there.

The gas station door was opening and Yami ducked down behind the shrubs, flattening himself against the ground and watching a pair of shiny black dress shoes walk towards the car before climbing inside. He had tried to look up through the branches to see what kind of clothes they were wearing, but fuck his life if he had even gotten that far. No, the branches, those tiny million little sticks of branches of leaves, cut off his vision completely with a barrier of green and brown. And fuck him if his hair wouldn't have given him away should he raise his head more.

Yami only moved when he knew that the bastard was gone. As soon as the car took off, he finally sat up, dusted himself off, looked around curiously, picked some dispatched leaves out of his hair, and then ran to get back onto the path to school.

As expected, the stupid car was sitting in the same place it always was when he walked to school, a parking space that should have made it look inconspicuous but only seemed to make it even more noticeable.

He was halfway into the gate when his phone rang. His pockets were empty today, because there was a new rule that they would get their phones confiscated if they were seen on campus so he had stuffed it in his bag to be put on silent when he got on school grounds. Fuck the principal if he thought that he would cut him off from his family.

It was odd, but the hope that should have been there—the one where his stomach seemed to explode with warmth and possibilities that he was going home, that the car was really there to be able to take him back to Egypt discreetly—never came.

Instead a sense of dread filled him as he pulled his phone out and stared at the word "father" printed across the screen. He glanced around once and then twice before answering, not bothering to speak for a moment, as his father always wanted the first word when he spoke to him.

"Atem?"

"Hello."

"Ah, so you did answer."

Yami rolled his eyes. "Yes, father."

There was a rustling noise and the red eyes narrowed into slits of disdain. He swore to Ra if his father was working and was going to blame him later for being distracted because of this phone call he would go to Egypt and kill him.

"As I have already told you, the situation has gotten worse."

"I was not aware it was a _situation_. Last I heard, it was a simple rumor that you were getting rid of."

A couple of students had paused to listen but were confused as to what language he was speaking in; he actually guessed it might have been his tone that had gained their attention, but he didn't dwell on it, instead keeping the phone at his ear and glaring at them so that they scattered.

"Don't use that tone with me!" his father spat loudly. "If you were here I would box you upside the ears."

Yami rolled his eyes and was about to sneer at him that maybe his little spies could do it, but the next words made his blood freeze in his veins.

"Not that it would be the only thing you have been doing lately to merit such a punishment. Do you realize how many emails I have gotten about you?"

He was growling and Yami was confused.

His eyes flickered around and settled on the car for a split second before they found themselves staring at the only group that had not fled while he was glaring—Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Ushio, and Tea.

"Pictures of you with some boy."

His phone nearly fell out of his hand.

Yami looked at the car again and then back before hissing, "He's just a student. We go to the same school. We have a project we're—"

"Just a student? He had better be. I did not raise a faggot."

_No, but you did scar one for life_.

"Yes, father, just a student. We go to the same school."

"Ah, yes, how is school?"

Yami couldn't help it when his face twisted incredulously before barking, "Will you just fucking listen for five goddamned seconds?"

There was silence for a moment and then the sound of something being slapped down made Yami's ears ring.

"Do. Not. Speak. To. Me. In. Such. A. Way."

Yami didn't answer and instead glanced at the car again, staring for a split second before quickly turning away once more; no, it was better that they did not realize that he knew they were following him…

"Are you listening to me, boy?"

"Yes."

"Yes, _what_?"

"Father. Yes. Father."

"Good. Now tell me about school."

"There isn't much to tell…" He glanced towards the group that was still watching him, trying to figure out what language he was speaking, and then realized slowly that Yugi actually _was _listening in; the way that his nose wrinkled up like that of a rabbit told him that much. _Well fuck_. He turned away and stepped a few paces away, crossing his arm over his torso and propping his elbow against it, narrowing his eyes. "I have perfect grades, as I do every year. No fights. No trouble. I am the model student."

"You damn well better be."

"Of _course _I am," he snapped. "When have I ever been anything _other _than that?"

"I will get on a plane and find you in Japan and beat your ass so hard you won't be able to lower your ass to a chair for weeks," he snarled.

Yami rolled his eyes. "Don't waste the time or the effort. You still have to prove yourself, don't you? So, really, father, who are you to threaten me?"

And then his mouth opened and closed and his eyes looked ready to bug out of his head. Oh fuck, did he say that out loud?

Joey started laughing and Yami spun on him with a glare that made him stop for a split second before he started up again. Yami flipped him off and Yugi snickered before saying something to him that made the blond glare at him. Yugi made a show of holding his hands up and then glanced at Yami sideways, curiously.

Yami pulled the phone from his ear as the yelling started, looking at the car for a split second before turning away again, his attention turning to the sky and then his backpack and finally his phone again; had he run out of breath yet?

Putting the small white device near his ear, he found that his father had paused in his rants.

"Forgive me. I apologize. I do not know what came over me. I never meant to say such a thing." And then he bit back a laugh, pulling the phone away and biting his lip hard with a shake of his head. "You have my sincerest, humblest apologies. I am very grateful for all that you have done, father."

There was a low growling noise but nothing else for a long minute.

"You ungrateful brat."

"I am. I am very ungrateful. I am sorry. I will try harder."

"You had better." A long, loud sigh of exasperation made him roll his eyes and tap his foot on the concrete impatiently, glowering with his jaw set. "Now, tell me about this boy."

"He is a student at my school. I was partnered with him for a project."

"A project? That's it? Then why have I seen you coming and going from this house?"

"For the project. There are not enough hours in the day to do a project at school."

"You always did well here."

"Yes, but this requires two people and it is forty-five percent of my grade. I cannot just do all the work in one day."

"You're making excuses."

"This is a _public _school! I am expected to do things a certain way."

"Boy."

"I am sorry, father. Please forgive me."

"Humph." He let out a breath of annoyance. "Very well. I forgive this."

"May I inquire something, father?"

"Yes, you may."

"How did you know about this…boy I am doing the project with? You said you _saw _me going to and from his home?"

Now Yugi was staring with wide eyes and the others were confused out of their minds as they watched him; all they really understood was that he had said one word a million times now and it was getting on their nerves that they didn't understand what he was saying.

"Someone has been sending me pictures"—Yami immediately looked at the car; did his father trust him so little that he would send another to spy on him? But then…why now? Why not before? Yami had sound instincts and he knew when someone was watching him and he had never encountered the feeling except for the last three weeks which meant this car had only been following him for that amount of time—"as blackmail, saying that you are a faggot."

Yami cringed at the word but then shook his head. "I am not, father."

"Good. Because I did not raise you to be one."

_No, you just tortured me a little_.

"He is a former employee. He wants his job back and so is set upon blackmailing me."

"Former?"

"I would not let him near a bitch if he were to ask it."

Yami thought this statement over for a moment and then cringed. "Has he added to the rumors?"

"Keep your focus on your goddamned grades, boy. And keep your mouth shut. I don't have time to clean up any messes you make."

"I will, father."

"Good boy. You would make your ancestor proud, Atem."

He bared his teeth. "I need not make him proud. He is already _dead_."

"Do not speak of the pharaoh this way."

"He is _dead_, father. I think it does not matter how I speak of him."

"Boy—"

"I am sorry, father. Yes, I will make him proud."

For a moment he did not reply and then finally, he growled, "You had better."

"I will."

"Good."

And, as usual, he hung up without even a simple goodbye.

Yami looked at his phone for a moment and then lowered the volume to silent before starting towards the gate again; immediately Joey stepped in his path.

"Woman problems, huh?"

He gave him a blank look and quietly, Yugi offered, "It was the best I could think of" in Arabic.

"What did you tell them?" he demanded, turning his head sharply.

"She saw you with another girl. You were trying to tell her that you didn't cheat on her. She didn't listen to you."

Yami shot him a look of pure frustration before turning to Joey. "It is none of your business, first of all, and I would appreciate it if you kept your nose out of it," he said calmly, stepping around him.

"That's what you get for cheating," Tea snarled at him.

He turned slowly and then looked at her, tilting his head. "And this is why you cannot get a boyfriend, because you don't understand anything and then expect too much when someone expects nothing. You are clingy, self-centered, annoying, maniacal, bitchy, and I hope whoever is stuck with you later in life can teach you a little about humility. Because your personality now is disgusting."

The brunette's mouth fell open and Yami truly _debated _ripping into her for that slap that she'd given Yugi, especially now that it seemed to ring in his ears at this confrontation, but bit it away at the last second; if he did that, it would mess up their little group's dynamics and make them seem a little more friendly than they ever actually _should _be considering their status in the school's "hierarchy"—bad boys and geeks were _not _meant to interact and make friends. And he couldn't risk that being discovered at all. Not when it could result in a _whole lot _more than just a simple little backlash amongst them.

But it was there, burning the tip of his tongue and leaving his skin crawling, because who the _fuck _gave her the right to do that? She deserved to be knocked down a peg and Yugi had jumped in to protect him when he saw that he was flailing. It was the least he owed him but it would be devastating if he did so now.

But it was so tempting and he wanted to do something to show Yugi that he was grateful for it, especially considering all of the stuff that had happened. Plus, he had a feeling that maybe Yugi thought he was still upset about the phone issue because they hadn't interacted since then.

It was far from true to say that Yami had been avoiding him but he could understand it if Yugi saw it that way.

"Would the rest of you like to hear why you are alone too? How about you, Joey? Would you like to know why Mai does not like you? How about what Miho thinks of you, Tristan? Yugi, would you like to know why Tea was never into you?"

"I don't care about that," Yugi snapped abruptly. "I'm over her. But please, Yami, tell us why Ushio could never get a girl in a million years."

Ushio glared at the smaller boy who merely smiled sweetly from where he sat on the outdoor lunch table, kicking his feet and blinking wide eyes up at him, looking purely amused and adorable in his stance.

The others kind of smirked at this and then looked at Yami pointedly, all but Tea who was seething.

"Well, you're abusive, first of all. You act as if you know everything. You use violence as a way of motivation and it's sickening. You bat out of your league. You try to make people fall in debt to you by beating up others and saying you did it for them. You micromanage everything. And, according to sources I shall not name…" He leaned forward and whispered, "You have a micro-penis."

Ushio let out a roar of a noise while the others howled with laughter.

Yami slipped his phone into his pocket and glanced at Joey. "Mai will never go out with you because you are selfish. You do not take care of your own appearance. You look like a golden retriever. You smell like one. You act like you know things you don't. Plus, you bullied Yugi for two years even after you became friends. She thinks you're cute but your personality sucks. That is why Mai won't date you."

Joey blinked a few times and then looked rather pointedly at Yugi who gave him a look that was a mix between a grimace and a frown. Yami studied this for a single split second, noting both expressions and realizing slowly that Joey was going to make it a point for Yugi to make him seem that much better, to gain advice he didn't deserve. He wondered vaguely if the small spitfire of a teen would do it.

"Tristan, Miho is a good-for-nothing gold digger. You don't meet her standards money-wise. You don't speak in third person—thank Ra, because if you did, I'd beat the shit out of you. There is only room for one third-person idiot in this school." He rolled his eyes; this was one of the best things about being best friends with Mai—she gossiped like crazy and she told it all to him because she _knew_ that he wasn't about to be the one to repeat all of it to everyone else. "You're too willing to bend over backwards for her. You don't put up a fight. You let her walk all over you—in fact, you let _every _girl walk all over you if they're pretty enough. You don't like the color yellow and her nickname is Yellow-chan and Ribbon-chan for a goddamned reason. You eat the cafeteria food. You don't always look your best. She likes you, but you're not really good enough because of the money thing. But I bet if you started to adore yellow like she does, maybe she would go out with you despite the financial dependency she harbors."

Tristan went wide-eyed while Yami started past them but was stopped when Joey stepped in front of him again. "You didn't do Yugi's."

"He said he didn't want to know."

"Yeah, but none of us said we wanted to know either."

"Fine." He turned his head and Yugi sat up a little straighter, staring intensely. "Yugi, you're the bad boy. You're the leader of this little group here. You had a crush on a girl for three years. You boosted her ego and made her a total bitch. I forgive you for that though."

Yugi smirked at him and shook his head.

"That aside, your attire. That choker around your neck and the sleeveless tops, the bracelets and armbands and the chain necklace you wore with those tight skinny jeans a few weeks ago all make you look like some kind of bondage slave."

Yami wondered if they noticed that they weren't doing the project a few weeks ago and had taken the entire week in mention off three weeks ago for them to do other things, mostly because Yugi had said that his friends were being pains about wanting him to hang out with them and his own cousins had grown a little discontent with his lack of presence to pull pranks and mess around with, both of them agreeing to a week to just spend time with the others and not have the focus be on the project.

But only Yugi seemed to because his eyes sparked the slightest bit, obviously remembering seeing Yami with Bakura and Malik when the two of them had decided that he ate too healthy and they needed to "junk him up a little". Yami had been picking out something along the lines of donuts when he'd heard Yugi's name after Joey shouted for him to go over there; when he had looked up, the smaller teen had come running, pausing for a split second when he spotted him before turning and following Joey's voice when the blond only proceeded to get louder and others around him started getting pissed. Bakura and Malik had gotten over to his side at that moment, whistling little cat calls and then his silver-haired cousin had the audacity to whistle loud enough for Yugi's group to turn around while Yami fled down the neighboring aisle and Malik burst out laughing. Yami had run into Yugi quite literally a little later when he was picking out ice cream and the smaller teen came around the corner in a rush, the two of them colliding while Yugi merely smirked and winked at him before running off with Yami watching him with raised eyebrows and a confused expression.

He still wasn't sure what the wink was about. Had Yugi run into him on purpose? But then, no one was around, so that didn't make much sense. The only reason he could see Yugi willingly running into him outside of school was if he was trying to make a scene with his friends. But none of them had been around and not even Bakura and Malik had seen.

The others were howling with laughter while Yugi's eyes narrowed slightly though his smirk didn't leave; no, he wasn't mad, his eyes were full of complete and utter laughter…and incredulously enough, a small hint of lust.

"And that's fine, it's your own choice. BDSM all you fucking want, but don't advertise it. It's…a little intimidating and insulting all at once. Like, someone would want to fuck you and then they'd think, 'Well, what the fuck do you think he's been up to?' or 'Oh, he's got a lot of experience, so I don't know if I want to' or something along those lines. And then there's the whole bad boy reputation."

Yugi's smirk widened. Yami hadn't seemed too intimidated when they were rolling around under the sheets. But the way that he said this, the gleam that entered his eyes in the very bottom of his pupil, where the red and black bled into each other, very clearly stated that he was uncomfortable in admitting this.

"That and the BDSM kind of thing you've got going on makes you seem a little punk, gothic maybe? It's intimidating and insulting too. Makes you look like you have _too _much experience, like you might want to fuck someone in an alley and never call them again."

The laughter split the air in loud timbres that seemed to make it vibrate.

"So, everyone thinks, 'I don't want to be fucked in an alley' and you know, it's kind of fucked up because you have that whole…baby-fat thing going for you. Cherubic, I guess. Anyways, you have that going for you and then you have punk-fuck-you-in-an-alley going for you and it's just too fucking much at one time. See, say if…um…Ushio were to do that, it'd be okay because he looks like a fucking bondage freak anyways."

Yugi let out a laugh and smirked at the massive boy who let out a growl of a noise while the others cracked up harder.

"See, because the muscles thing just kind of throws you off. So it'd be okay if he did his hair in a goddamned black and blue Mohawk and started piercing himself everywhere"—his head snapped back to Yugi and looked him over with suspicious eyes—"Do you have a piercing?"

He shook his head, laughing. He almost said he would know if he had a piercing but then bit it back when he remembered the other four idiots with him. He wondered vaguely what Yami would do if he _did _have a piercing, the thought making his lips twist into a wide smirk.

"Oh…well, anyways, you get someone like Ushio and you're expecting kinky ass shit because of all the muscles so you're going to expect a pierced micro over there because that is what some kind of punk-muscle guy would have, right?" he continued, sparing Ushio a half-assed glance; honestly, with the way Yugi was staring at him so possessively, his eyes smoldering with slightly dilated pupils and a haze to his darkened gaze, it was rather hard to look away. "So then you have that cherubic bondage slave BDSM punk-fuck-you-in-an-alley thing and it's just not good."

Yugi snickered and his lips twitched up into a wider smirk, eyes darkening and making him look almost as if he were going to jump off the table and fuck him right then and there; Yami wouldn't be surprised if that was exactly what was going through his head at that moment.

"Anyways, your attitude too. So, you have that smartass thing going for you—good for you by the way, because little bits like you normally don't have the balls to do that—and then you have that whole…how would you describe it…?" He thought it over for a moment, crossing his arms and drumming his fingers over his left elbow before continuing. "You have that whole good boy attitude thing at the same time. Like, you're incredibly nice and kind. So then it's like, 'Well, what the fuck? Can't he just make up his fucking mind on who the fuck he wants to be? I'm kind of tired of this game.' But what is _worse _is the fact that you have all of this wrapped up into one persona and if you were dating someone, it would be a wonder of who the fuck you would be when they came home. It would be like, 'Well, maybe if I'm good, he won't fuck me as hard' or 'Maybe if I play with him a little, he'll be nice' or 'I hope he's not in the mood for it rough cause I'm still tired from the last time we did it like that' or 'Oh god, I hope he isn't expecting alley sex' and stuff like that. Honestly, I think anyone with you would get a fucking headache."

Now they were all laughing and Yami slipped past them while Joey was leaning against Tristan to avoid falling over. He felt eyes on the back of his head, knowing without a doubt that Yugi was watching him go, but ignored it in order to get inside before the first bell rang.

* * *

"A headache, huh?" Yugi commented, making him look up in surprise, staring at him from the mirror.

"Did I mention an ulcer? I think you would probably give them an ulcer too," Yami added thoughtfully.

"No, you didn't mention an ulcer."

Yami shrugged his shoulder dismissively and then dried his hands off; Ra, he hated the boys' bathroom but he really needed to pee so badly it wasn't even funny. At least this bathroom was clean for the most part. The last bathroom he had been into, on the bottom floor, when he was a freshman and had never exactly encountered a public bathroom in the first place, had piss everywhere and someone had even pulled out a piece of shit in toilet paper and left it on the ground.

He had fled and, of course, by that point, traumatized, he had fought off needing to pee because he was too fucking grossed out to bother.

"Well then, am I dealing with an angel or a demon?"

"Can't I be a fallen angel?"

"That's no better."

"Hmm…then I guess you're dealing with the demon this time."

"Am I?" he commented, turning around and staring at him, leaning against the porcelain sink and tilting his head to the side as he looked him over. "And why is that?"

"Well, maybe because you called him out?"

"Hmm. Well that's rather different. I don't remember worshipping Satan this morning."

Yugi let out a small laugh and shook his head, moving towards him. "You're kind of funny."

"I try."

He raised an eyebrow and pressed against him, pushing him further into the sink and looking up at him through his lashes, smirking. "Do you, Yami?"

"Not really. It's actually natural. Sarcasm and bluntness are my forte."

"Lies and fucking around are mine."

"Hmm. Well, that's because you're a slut."

For a moment Yugi's jaw clenched but then relaxed again as he pressed his hips against the taller boy's; Yami curled his lip back slightly in an effort to keep the moan from escaping him.

"We have more fun than the rest of you."

"No, you have more STDs than the rest of us."

"Not if we're careful."

"Bareback doesn't seem very careful to me."

"Yeah, but you're a goody-goody so I knew you wouldn't have anything."

"You trust too much in stereotypes."

"Some of them have some truth to them."

Yami narrowed his eyes and then raised an eyebrow. "Did you follow me in here or something?" he commented.

Yugi gave him a small smirk. "And if I did?"

"I'd have to consider getting a restraining order."

"But where's the fun in that?"

His teeth nipped at the skin on his jaw and Yami shifted his legs to move one between Yugi's, making the smaller boy spread them some for him just enough to let his knee settle there.

"Do I give you a headache?"

His breath was hot when it ghosted over his jaw and Yami gripped the sink harder. "No, I can handle you," he breathed, biting his tongue to keep the moan inside; he found himself struggling to quell the noise when Yugi nipped him again and then gently pulled on the skin there. "I'm not as simple-minded as most. Two sides to every coin, after all…"

"Oh, of course." His voice got low and husky. "Ambassador's son has to be open-minded, right?"

Yami barked out a laugh at the irony of the comment and Yugi smirked before pulling away and glancing out the door and back. "Are you expecting someone?" the red-eyed teen asked quietly, frowning; if this was a setup…

"No, that's why I'm checking." Hands found his hips and settled there before a large, wide smirk crossed his face as he turned back. "I want you to fuck me."

"Right now?"

What a stupid question. Yami scrunched his face up at his own stupidity.

"No, next year," Yugi spat. "Yes, _now_!"

He gave him a slightly cold look before hissing softly, "I can't."

"What? Why not? We're completely alone—"

"Yugi, we're in school. Do you _really _want to be fucked in a disgusting boys' bathroom?"

"Not just any boys' bathroom. _This _boys' bathroom."

"What's so special about this one?"

"It's mine."

"What? You don't own a school's bathroom."

"Maybe not, but it's the only one I use because it's so far from the others and most people won't come this far. Why? Because it's fucking on the sixth goddamned floor. Most people don't have classes up here. So why are _you _up here?"

"I was going up to the roof and then I realized I had to pee…so I came here. And apparently my copycat followed me."

Yugi snorted and then grabbed his wrist; he failed to miss the way that Yami's face screwed up slightly when he did this, but he ignored it in favor of getting them into the largest stall, locking it and pinning him to the wall, kissing him lazily. Yami didn't respond at first so of course, there was pinching, but instead of the hip, he got him in the inner thigh and pinched a small trail up to his penis which stirred from the slight brushing of his hand against his uniform pants.

"This…is utterly disgusting," Yami hissed at him before moaning when Yugi rolled his eyes and kissed up and down his neck, his hands moving of their own accord to pull the other's jacket off and strip him of his shirt. And his mouth was working without much persuasion, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of his head telling him not to, and taking one of the smaller boy's nipples into his mouth, making circles with his tongue and nipping a few times while he twisted and rubbed the other, making the nubs grow hard before pulling back and looking his handiwork over for a moment.

Yugi's hands found purchase in his hair, moaning softly as the taller boy swallowed hard and then began unbuckling his belt, pulling down his pants and boxers at once, seeing his penis come out and stand instantly. Yami honestly could not understand how he was comfortable with this all, actually doing this without thinking about it, but then he probably could have boiled it back down to his father's phone call.

Either way, he didn't think about it when he maneuvered a finger between Yugi's legs and prodded at his entrance, sinking the tip of his nail into the ring of muscle so that he let out a small yelp of surprise before feeling Yami's finger enter him only to stop when he was up to his knuckle inside of him.

It was odd, and shocking for both of them, when Yugi started bucking against the digit before Yami could even make a move to pump. But when he looked up, the smaller boy had a devilish little smirk on his face that made his lips twitch up into one of his own, amused and fighting back the urge to laugh before slipping in a second finger. Yugi paused for a moment and then went back to bucking against his fingers, a little surprised when Yami started twisting them to seek out his prostate.

And then, of course, Yugi lost patience. Making a hissing noise, he maneuvered off Yami's fingers and then started unbuckling his pants before throwing them and his boxers down. "Hurry up," he spat.

Yami rolled his eyes and then glanced at the toilet for a moment before turning back to him. "I guess you're getting on your back because I'm not doing doggy style," he said with narrowed eyes.

He'd spent too much fucking time groveling on his hands and knees to make his father forgive him and he would be damned if he would make Yugi do that, for sex or not; he didn't ever want to actually have to be on his hands and knees if he had the power to stay on his feet and he would not put another in that position by choice. It seemed downright degrading by all means and he refused to do so.

Yugi gave him an annoyed look. "I thought everyone wanted doggy style."

"Well, then you're wrong because I hate it so either get on your back or fuck off."

Yugi hesitated for a moment and then grabbed his jacket and shirt and Yami's as well and made a small half-assed pillow-bed for his back and head, laying on it and giving Yami a pointed look and yet Yami was staring at his uniform jacket with a small frown before shaking it off and pulling Yugi's shoes, pants and boxers all the way off, settling between his legs.

"_Ow_!" Yugi spat when he got halfway in, glaring at him fiercely.

"You know, if you had just let me get in the last fucking finger, this wouldn't be happening."

"You didn't scissor!"

"I do it with _three _fingers, not _two_."

"Oh please, they come out at the same length!"

"Maybe for you, but I have a lot more dexterity to my hands." To prove himself, Yami lifted his right hand and spread his fingers; unlike Yugi's, they actually did have more dexterity even without comparison to just two. So the three fingers really did make more sense than just two.

"What the fuck? You're like…ET with that shit going on. Can you do that V-thing with your fingers like they do on _Star Trek_?"

Yami gave him such a weird look Yugi almost blushed before realizing the look was one of pure confusion; Yugi's mouth fell open.

"What the fuck? You've never heard of _Star Trek_?"

"My father is the ambassador of Egypt. You _heard _my conversation with him. Do you _really _think someone like _that _would let his son participate in childish things such as _watching TV_?"

"Hmm…and here I thought it was just because Egypt didn't have the channel."

Yami curled his lips back and bared his teeth while Yugi awkwardly held his hands up in surrender. "How bad does it hurt?"

"Not too bad. It burns like all hell though."

"It might help if you tried to relax."

"Might help if my ass wasn't on fire."

"Have you eaten any spicy things?"

"What the fuck does that have to do with anything?"

"Just answer the question."

"No."

"Then your ass is not on fire."

Yugi barked out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh, so witty."

"Well, I think I am, considering that you aren't fighting me anymore."

"Huh?" Yugi looked confused for a moment before blinking and realizing slowly that Yami was seated inside of him, bottomed out in his ass.

"So, are you okay then?"

Yugi twisted and then bucked against him as a response, raising an eyebrow in challenge. Yami smirked at him before giving a small laugh and beginning to move in a slow motion, rocking his hips back and forth, sliding in and out of him before grabbing his hips and moving faster with every sixth thrust. He leaned over and bit Yugi's skin, making him yelp before moaning and mewling, the noises low in tune as they always were.

He shifted and moaned softly while Yami pulled his teeth away from the job of nipping and then looked over the small bite mark that would fade in a few minutes. Yugi continued bucking his hips into him, shameless in his movements, holding his shoulders hard and mewling, his nails digging into Yami's skin with enough pressure to scratch but not break skin.

He remembered all too well the pain from his own broken skin when Yami had bottomed so he was careful to keep in mind the pressure he asserted. Yami came before him but kept thrusting until finally he released on their torsos, feeling exhausted by it all as he breathed hard and watched as Yami supported himself on shaky arms before pulling away and out of him, sitting back on his knees and looking at him.

"What?" he muttered breathlessly.

Yami was about to shake his head to dismiss the possibility of an answer but instead his inquiry came out of his mouth unbidden. "What made you want this?"

Yugi smirked wily and then breathed out hard when he looked around the stall for a few seconds before turning back. "You."

"Me?"

"This morning. Pointing out my flaws."

"_That _got you hot and bothered?" he asked, eyes wide and incredulous.

Yugi burst out laughing. "No, the fact that you weren't afraid to do it like someone else might have been. You didn't care that it was me or the others. It just came out of your mouth so easily. It was actually really hot."

Yami wrinkled his nose. "You're crazy and I'm fucking stupid to have done this."

"I think that's what everyone says when they have sex like this. I mean, the setting. This isn't something you can tell your kids and grandchildren about."

The red-eyed teen laughed softly and then let out a small breath before muttering, "Which uniform is which?"

Yugi gave him a dirty look before snickering, "What? Are you going to walk around with cum on your body all day?"

Yami blinked and then looked down before hanging his head and groaning, "Goddamn it, I forgot about that."

"Already? I thought I was more memorable than that," Yugi teased before sitting up and twisting around, looking at the two shirts and jackets before picking one set off the ground and handing it to him. "I'm pretty sure this one is yours."

Yami looked it over for a moment before tilting his head and shaking it of its wrinkles, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do with it now. He had no desire to put it on anymore.

"You look like someone just strangled your puppy," Yugi growled before grabbing a bunch of toilet paper and thrusting it at him. "Here, just try to clean it off or something, moron."

The red eyes glanced at him briefly before taking the paper product and giving a small sigh and shake of his head before starting to wipe at the liquid on his chest, wrinkling his nose. "If this…if it ever happens again, fucking bring condoms, damn it."

"Oh, I'll try to remember that along with a pillow and a blanket. What the fuck do I look like? A sex fairy? I can't just fucking make shit appear out of nowhere. And I _highly _doubt I'll remember that bullshit later."

Yami flipped him off and continued wiping; it wasn't the best cleaning job he had ever done but at the moment he was glad that the stupid school had really shitty scratchy toilet paper because it didn't tear like others might have.

He had a brief moment where he wondered if this was even fucking toilet paper because it seemed more like something you would get off a paper towel roll, but kept this in his head rather than voicing the thought.

"Yeah, I don't think it's that soft either."

Yami looked up, confused.

"The toilet paper," Yugi snapped, gesturing. "It's not soft."

"Oh. Uh…yeah," he muttered, rolling his eyes.

Yugi snorted softly and then went about pulling his uniform on, dumping some toilet paper in the toilet and flushing before turning to him. "So, my house after school?"

Yami looked up and shook his head. "Can't."

For a long minute neither of them spoke as Yami dressed again and then finally Yugi rolled his eyes and muttered, "All right, fine, I'll bite. Why not?"

"Because I can't. We need to keep our distance because I'm being followed."

"Followed?"

Yami dumped his own soiled toilet paper in the toilet and flushed but did not respond, turning and walking off, hoping to avoid having this conversation at any point, only to find it thrust on him ten minutes later when he went to buy lunch.

Phones were going off, one by one, people were talking and whispering and when Yami walked into the room, everyone was looking at him; he was confused as to what the fuck was going on and so looked around curiously before turning back. Oh, yep, they were all looking at him. How lovely.

And then his own phone went off.

And his heart fell into his stomach to be dissolved in acid.

A picture of him and Yugi kissing.

How lovely.

Yami blinked a few times before shaking his head. What the…? Was this some kind of stunt for attention? He slowly angled his head towards where he thought Yugi would be with his table of friends, but no, he wasn't there.

"Yami…"

He turned his head and swallowed hard as Mana held her phone out to show him the text, shaking her head.

"I don't understand…is this real?"

Is _this real_? Yami wondered vaguely, staring at the screen with a single blink of his eyes, furrowing his brows. No, it couldn't be. There was no way. He snatched the phone from her to inspect the picture.

_Please, Ra…_

He blinked long and slow once and then swallowed hard. No, it was real. That was him and Yugi, but it was taken…from Yugi's window…like someone had climbed the tree. Like someone had been planning this.

"Yugi!" he spat viciously, too low for Mana to hear. "That little…"

He handed the phone back but didn't say anything.

"What? That little what?"

Yami spun around and opened his mouth, baring his teeth, but then the small teen's phone went off as well and he looked it over before going completely still, his face paling to look almost paper-white, eyes widening momentarily before a thick swallow bought him enough time to regain some of the color in his skin.

He realized exactly how it looked too, apparently.

From the angle of the picture, it looked like someone had sat in that tree and waited until they got the perfect shot of the two of them kissing. Like maybe Yugi had set it up, like maybe he had told someone to sit there, like maybe he had kissed Yami to make it the perfect shot…

And then there was laughter and whispers and Yami couldn't stop glaring while Yugi was a second from freaking out, but no, one of them had to stay sane. They couldn't both freak out. That would help no one.

So he decided to let it swarm him for a minute, hyperventilating with the force of it, and then pushed it away just as fast, looking at Yami and growling, "Who the fuck sent this?"

"I always knew that Yugi was a freak. I mean, the collar says that, but to drag Yami down _with _him? That's so sad."

"Say it to my face, you little bitch," Yugi snarled at the cheerleader who scurried out of his reach, too scared to look back at the two blazing blue-violet eyes. "Anyone else have something to say?"

Everyone fell silent for a long minute, some looking at each other and others turning away from him and seeming to hide from his wrath.

"Who the fuck sent this out? I want names, damn it."

Yami stared at him for a moment and then closed his eyes, muttering, "It doesn't matter" before turning and striding out with his head still high.

Yugi watched him go and then turned back, searching the crowd for any guilty faces before singling out the two smug looks in the back; of course it was those two. Why the fuck not?

"I'll tear your faces off," he spat at them before turning and walking out.

* * *

"You're just…Yami, you're just confused, right? I mean, this can't be for real…"

Yami glanced at the girl next to him and then narrowed his eyes into slits, not bothering to answer, feeling it was better not to confirm nor deny it.

"I could have gotten AIDS from just _kissing _you!" Tea sneered at him viciously. "You slept with him and you're a fucking faggot. What the _fuck_?"

A well-manicured hand shot out and smacked her across the cheek, sending her stumbling; Yami looked up with wide eyes to see Mai standing over his desk and spotted Joey and Ushio and Tristan nearby and even Yugi was standing a few feet away, startled by the smack as it had happened just as he was about to take his seat.

"You fucking _bitch_! He should have been afraid of catching something from _you_! You piece of shit whore!"

Yami got up from his desk. "Mai—"

A teacher pulled Mai away by the arm but she was still screaming, "I'm getting in trouble for smacking that stupid cunt but you're going to let that little bitch get away with talking to someone like _that_? That's such fucking bullshit!" while pointing at Tea who was being escorted by another teacher in a similar manner.

Vivian whispered a weak, "Mai will calm down. She's always hated Tea."

Yami gave her a sideways glance before turning his head and watching them escort Mai, eyes wide as she winked at him despite the fact that she was supposed to turn around; he would have gone after her but she shook her head slightly and instead he forced himself to sit back down, staring at his things in pure shock.

There were giggles and comments being shot around before a book was slammed and everyone scurried to their seats; Yami was not blind, so he did not pretend not to notice that everyone around him moved their desks a little farther from him than normal and Joey leaned all the way away from Yugi who rolled his eyes at the blond and stared pointedly at the teacher.

"I am _well _aware of the events that transpired during lunch. This is your one and only warning. My classroom _will _be respected so you _will _keep your personal opinions and comments to yourselves or I will _remove _you from my class. Now...where were we...?"

Yami was actually the last to leave the room and he did so so slowly that the teacher gave him an odd look before saying, "Yami." When he looked up, he was visibly startled out of his thoughts, barely stopping himself from dropping his books on the ground. "You're one of my best students—ever, really—and I just wanted you to know that things will blow over and you're going to be okay."

He nodded a little, though he looked just as unconvinced as he felt, and whispered a simple "Thank you" before walking out of class.

* * *

"Here, you are officially emancipated."

Yami stared at the stack of papers in his hand as if they might sneak out and bite him if he took his eyes off them for even a second. His fingers trembled slightly and his grip felt weak but his knuckles were white with the force he was exerting so he knew he couldn't he holding them _that _loosely.

"You're going to be okay, Yami."

He looked up but his cousin was already gone.

* * *

Yami really had never hoped to see this number on his caller ID again.

"F-father?"

"You disgraceful little brat. What did I tell you?"

"T-to stay away from boys. I never—"

"I don't have time for your excuses, boy."

"B-but they're not…I didn't—Father, _please_—"

"Quit your pathetic begging," he sneered back coldly. "You ungrateful little bastard."

He felt weak when he sat down, laying his head against the table so that his cheek would cool against the smooth surface of it.

"How could this fucking happen?"

"I don't…I don't know."

"This is fucking impossible. I raised you _right_."

_No you didn't. You're more fucked up than I am. No one like you could ever raise a decent child. This is your fault. You're the fuck up, not me._

Of course, those words never left his head.

"It's going to be up to you to fix this."

"I…I don't know what in all I can do…"

"You've fucking ruined me. Your mother."

"I'm sorry…"

"You disgraceful little brat. I don't know who you think you are. I am your father, and you are my son. You will show me the respect I deserve. I thought allowing you to go to Japan like you wanted would help make you a better political figure, but it has turned you into _nothing _but a _disgraceful piece of shit faggot_! With you being such a fuck up, I'm sure my wife will hate you by the end of the day."

Yami felt something break inside of him.

_My wife._

Not_ your mother_.

"Father, please," he begged, feeling himself breaking in places he didn't even know he existed. "I never—I know better. I would never do it. I'm sorry. Please don't do this—"

He hung up and Yami stared at the phone blankly before trembling and feeling the first tears fall.

* * *

Yami could not remember how long he had cried. It must have been hours, but, in the way that things had changed so drastically over the last week, he wouldn't be surprised if hours had somehow morphed into days and maybe he was a year behind the rest of them. His teachers sometimes gave him pitying glances, all but his history teacher who would give him a single look that told him to rally up before he would turn away again.

Oddly, despite how detached he felt from his own body, he still did the work, still got high marks, still had all A's. The only difference was that now everyone looked at him as if he caught some kind of disease and whispers never stopped, snickers and giggles always happened, and when he was alone with another boy in the bathrooms, they normally tried to make him their bitch.

He was getting tired of it. He had lashed out so many times to keep them from getting in his pants that it was not even funny. He could never keep count of it all.

But maybe it was easier in the way that he was stuck in this never-ending cycle because Yugi was no better off than he was; the smaller boy constantly got into fights now, constantly had bruises on his arms, constantly got into verbal spats with the other students. He was no longer with his group and on more than one occasion Yami had witnessed Joey making fun of him and Ushio calling him his bitch.

Tristan stayed out of this every single time. He didn't turn a blind eye towards it, instead watching it as it progressed and grew worse, and he never messed with Yami, even after he was the only one in the bathroom with him.

"It was Tea and Joey."

Yami didn't look up.

"I thought you should know that."

After a brutally long minute the red-eyed boy finally raised his head and looked at the boy's reflection. "It doesn't matter."

"Aren't you going to get them back?"

"For what? Exposing me for the freak I am? I didn't need help with that."

"You're not—"

"Just leave. I don't need this right now."

He started out the door but stopped and turned around and Yami finally turned his head to stare at him.

"There's nothing wrong with being gay. I don't even understand why everyone is freaking out like this."

_Because we're not the same. Yugi is the bad boy. I'm the quiet nerd. We were never supposed to interact._

Yami turned away and listened to his steps as he walked out again.

_Was the attention worth it, Yugi_?

How many times had he thought this but never asked?

How many times had he wanted to scream this at the top of his lungs?

But he was just as much at blame as the other boy. He could have stopped himself at any time. He could have pushed Yugi away at _any _time.

And yet not once had he done so.

Not once had he stopped seeking him out for a distraction. Not once had he even _tried_.

He couldn't stop himself from the whispers in the back of his head, the ones that asked if the distraction was worth it, if he should have tried to snuff his disgusting curiosity and dangerous need for another being close to him before any of this could grow to such a point.

Was it worth the distraction?

Was it worth the rebellion?

Was it worth the tears? And the pain? And the heartache?

He pushed himself away from the sink and walked out again, not the least bit surprised when another student grabbed him and he had to spin around to punch them across the temple to make them leave him alone.

"Yami."

He stopped short on the way up the stairs to the roof. Mana and Mahado, the only two so far to keep by his side. Even Mai had been easier to push away than the twins.

"I told you guys not to do this."

"But you're our friend," Mana muttered, and Yami didn't really have to look at her to know she was still favoring her right side after she was thrown down that flight of stairs; he didn't have to look at Mahado either to know the bruises on his face.

"No, Mana, I'm not. I _was _your friend but I'm not anymore," he snapped, glaring at them. "I told you this before and I will tell you this again. Things will only get worse and you're both just going to be getting yourselves hurt more than you already are. I'm not going to be responsible for that. So if you do this any longer, it's your own damn fault, not mine. I don't care anymore. Leave me the fuck alone."

The blonde flinched and had tears in her eyes but her brother nodded slowly.

"You're right, Yami."

Mana stared at him in disbelief. "W-what?"

"You heard him, Mana. Things are only going to get worse. I don't want to stick around for that." He gave Yami a long, sad look. "I'm sorry, Yami."

"I am too, Mahado."

"B-but we can't just—"

"Yes, we can." He messed with the books in his arms. "Let's go. Just say goodbye and let's go."

Mana gave him a wide tearful look and then flung herself into his arms, hugging him tightly before pulling back, tears trailing down her cheeks; Yami nodded at her once and then all three of them turned and walked in opposite directions without a backwards glance.


	11. A Little Buzzed

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Note: Story will be updated every Wednesday**

**Warning: TONS of cursing throughout story**

**Chapter Warning: Chapter is rated MA (Mature Adult) for sexual content (lemon), underage alcohol consumption, mentions of a suicide attempt, homosexual slander, abuse and near-death experience**

**Suicide Attempt Note: It's not a real suicide attempt but it could be conceived as one.**

**Lemon Warning: If you want to skip the lemon, don't read past the statement "Not for this". If you don't think you're going to remember that, use F and Ctrl to activate the Find function to highlight the words and skip to the third part where the lemon is finished.**

**Lemon Note: The lemons actually DO serve a purpose, though, so yeah, I didn't just write it and post it without a reason...**

**Homosexual Slander Warning: The usual, use of the word "fag/faggot".**

**Abuse Warning: Descriptions of physical abuse are used in chapter. **

**Near-Death Experience Warning: I don't really know how to describe this aside from it's not self-inflicted and things are a little graphic in description.**

Chapter XI: A Little Buzzed

"Cliff diving. I want to do it."

Bakura, Malik and Seto stopped their conversation mid-speech to look over at him with wide eyes.

"What?" his blond cousin muttered.

"Are you insane?" the brunet hissed.

"The fuck?" the silver-haired boy asked.

"Please?"

All three of them swapped looks and then turned back and shrugged slightly.

"When do you want to go?" Malik finally asked.

"Now. Today."

"Why not tomorrow or next week?" Seto inquired.

"No. It has to be today."

"Why?" Bakura demanded a little gruffly.

"Because I don't know when the hell I'll ever get up the nerve to do it again," Yami replied, shifting his weight back and forth. "And you three have done it before. I want to do it now."

Again the three of them swapped looks and then shrugged as they got up, nodding at him; it took about thirty minutes to get to the beach where they would jump, Yami looking down at the water and tilting his head curiously.

There was something that Bakura was forgetting and he knew it, he just couldn't grasp it as they all got out of the car; Malik was the one to lead the way up the side of the cliff's path and towards the top so that they could jump from the highest point.

The water was crashing violently against the rock wall beneath them and it sent chills of fear and intimidation and pure adrenaline through the red-eyed teen who stared with a bright gaze like a coming sunset.

"Are you ready?" Seto asked, looking over the edge and turning back to Yami.

Thank god the kid was not afraid of heights.

Yami stripped of his dark gray jacket and threw it on the ground, looking down at the water as it crashed a little more violently; Bakura felt a nagging sensation at the back of his head but he couldn't figure out what it was. Something about this entire situation made his spine chill with fear.

It was sort of warm, but maybe that was the black tank top and the dark gray skinny jeans talking. But the light breeze made him want to purr and that was far from his clothes speaking.

"All right. Just jump when—"

Yami sprang so fast they didn't even know how to react. Their cousin disappeared under the water where it crashed against the rocks and he didn't resurface immediately, the water covering him completely and hiding him from their sights. It was freezing beneath the smallest bit of a sunny patch that stretched for miles, but Yami wasn't bothered with the cold temperature. His eyes stayed closed as he pushed his way back to the surface. Oxygen was leaving his system too fast and he needed air before he ran out completely; he was kicking and pushing frantically towards the top but the lack of air made his head spin and the roar of the waves, even from underwater, made his eardrums pound violently only to be doubled with the throbbing of the blood in his veins.

Something grabbed him by the arm and for whatever reason, he realized slowly that it was Bakura; the silver-haired teen had apparently dove in after him, probably startled by his failure to reappear. As soon as they hit the surface Yami was gulping in air and feeling salt water burn a path down his throat as he gasped and squeezed his eyes open into slits, giving the taller teen a look before breathing harder.

Bakura pulled him along towards the shore, surprised when he spotted his other two cousins had not jumped just yet.

"Damn it, I knew I forgot about something!" he hissed.

"What the fuck happened?" Seto demanded, running over with Malik on his heels.

"He can't swim."

"What?" Seto spat.

"Of course he can't swim…" Malik muttered, shaking his head. "How the fuck did we forget about that?"

"Do you care to explain to me why you just jumped off a cliff when you can't even _swim_? How the fuck does your brain work and tell you that it's _okay_?" the brunet snarled at him coldly while Yami sat up and shook himself out, hands in his lap as he watched them; Bakura sat in the same position next to him, legs stretched out, hands in lap, just watching.

"Answer me, damn you!"

"Because I can!" Yami snapped. "Because I…I can."

"Because you can." Seto snorted and rolled his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. "Because you can."

"Dude, if this was a suicide attempt, you brought the wrong people," Malik laughed, causing all three of them to look at him with wide eyes—Seto and Bakura because they didn't think about it and Yami because he couldn't figure out how that was supposed to be funny. "You're supposed to take people who _don't _give a fuck about you."

"Yeah, like Yugi," Bakura agreed.

And then all three of them were silent.

Yami stared in confusion as the three of them avoided his gaze, feeling as if he had just been witness to some kind of private joke and it was pissing him off by all means. "What? What the fuck is wrong with the three of you? Someone says Yugi's name and you all hide from me?"

"It's not…" Malik frowned and then scratched at the upper right half of his mouth, thinking hard. "Um…"

"It's just…"

"Look, Yami, we think you're a little too attached to that kid," Seto announced, cutting straight to the point and leaving nothing behind in his answer; Yami gave him a blank look and tilted his head in thorough confusion. "You're around him more than you are any of us."

He blinked. Was he?

He sought through his memory of the last two weeks. Oh yes, he had been around Yugi more often than he had his cousins. And not for the project. But because he had wanted to be around him. It was strange and awkward because it got a lot of stares and a lot of fucked up attention that he didn't want or care for, and he was adding fuel to the fire because that stupid car was still following him, but he never stopped.

He was lonely and his heart hurt and the only balm to it was Yugi himself.

Which was sickening by all means, because Yami had a really good idea of what that meant, but it was true and he had no other way around it.

Besides, Yugi was the reason he wanted to jump off the cliffs anyways…

He thought it over.

Was it a suicide attempt?

He didn't know anymore.

Ra, he didn't know _anything _anymore.

He had no idea about anything.

"Maybe."

"Maybe?" Malik echoed.

"What are you, a fucking parrot?" Bakura barked. "He said maybe."

"For fuck's sake, are you deaf? You don't need to yell."

"Am I yelling?" the silver-haired teen asked too loudly.

Yami reached over and pinched his nose. "Blow."

Bakura gave him a small glare but followed instructions and then batted his hand away before nodding a little. "I'm good now."

Seto shook his head, looking at the sky with a small scowl before rolling his eyes. Oh, of course. He just _had _to be related to these three dimwits.

"If this wasn't a suicide attempt, then what was it?"

Yami shrugged. "Fun?"

"Fun?" Seto asked incredulously. "That's crap. You've never wanted to jump off a cliff a day before in your life."

"Well…not usually, but I wanted to this time," he muttered.

All three of them gave him worried looks before shaking their heads.

Yami ground his teeth together. _So sorry for being such a big fucking inconvenience_.

* * *

Again, he really wasn't sure how he got there. Maybe the bartender got him a cab. Maybe he fucking walked. Either way, he wound up there again, plastered and tired and aching and feeling like his skin was on fire.

Yugi answered on the third knock, earphones in and a strange outfit of a black cotton sweater that hugged his upper body and a dark gray vest with black skinny jeans and some gray Converse. At first he looked surprised and then he burst out laughing and the noise made Yami's ears ring but he ignored it because his head was already buzzing and it took priority because honestly, he was starting to think he had flies in his head.

"Look who it is," he snickered, shaking his head before gesturing him inside, closing the door behind him and locking it with a roll of his eyes. "So…what brings you here? At"—he took a glance at his phone—"three a.m. on a Saturday?"

Three a.m.? Was it really three a.m.?

Hmm.

Well, that was certainly different from when he left at ten in the evening.

He pursed his lips, trying to think of an answer, but then fell short and shrugged before stumbling and then straightening again, confused by the lack of judgment.

Yugi laughed behind him and then grabbed his wrist, his other hand gripping his waist as he led him up the stairs and to the couch.

That burning was slowly dissipating and again, all it did was make Yami question himself before looking at him with wide eyes; Yugi got him to the couch before heading off into the kitchen and coming back with a cold coffee drink.

"I don't know if this will work or not, but it's coffee," the boy said thoughtfully, pursing his lips and looking at the ingredients on the back. Either this would help sober him up or it would put him to sleep. Milk and honey, caramel, coffee…two thousand other things he neither knew nor cared to know about.

Yami took it from him, looked it over, and then glowered as he put it down and turned to look at him; Yugi blinked a few times and then shrugged as he took his seat next to him, looking at the TV again.

"Hey."

He turned his attention towards the taller teen, raising an eyebrow. "I want to watch the wolves."

"Wolves?" Yami echoed, suddenly turning towards the TV with wide eyes and watching as a pack of them ran across the screen; Yugi smirked and crossed his legs, watching as well.

It was only when the show turned its attention towards lions that both of them turned away from the screen, Yugi asking, "What did you want earlier?" while Yami stared blankly and then scrunched up his nose.

"I don't know."

Yugi laughed at the way his words slurred together. Yami drunk was honestly a hilarious creature. "Okay then."

Yami tipped his head to the side and squinted at him before announcing, "You look like me."

And then he was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe, blue-violet gaze bright with their endless amusement as he stared at the red-eyed boy who looked confused before smiling widely and looking incredibly proud of himself.

"You're just noticing this?"

"Um…no?"

Yugi snickered and shook his head. "How much did you drink?"

Yami started to count on his fingers and then looked confused. "What?"

"I asked how much you drank."

"Um…" He went back to counting before holding his hands up. "Five of these."

"Fifty?" the smaller teen cried, wide-eyed and shocked.

Yami thought it over and then nodded slowly. "Mmhmm. Is that two times…ten?"

Yugi nearly choked on his own relief. Fuck, Yami was crazy. "Twenty."

"I think so? Maybe? No, I like fifty better. It _sounds _better."

He nearly cried he was laughing so hard.

"I…want…to fuck…you."

Yugi laughed again and shook his head, thinking he was joking before blinking wide eyes; oh crap, were they back to doing that again? Two weeks of them just sitting around and talking, sticking together because that was all they could do, and not once had this been brought up in discussion or otherwise.

"Uh…"

He nodded eagerly and then leaned forward and pressed his lips against his and Yugi laughed into his mouth when he felt his tongue rotating back and forth in confusion, batting at his before taking the opposite direction again. A drunken Yami meant hilarious make out sessions. That was a plus.

He moved a hand to the back of his neck and pulled his face closer and Yugi put his hands on either side of Yami's face before pushing back gently, feeling Yami yield to his touch and pull back with a scowl.

"Yami, we shouldn't be doing this."

"Why not?"

Was he…_pouting_?

Yugi barely stopped himself from laughing again. Yami had crossed his arms and was glaring, lips pursed and eyebrows drawn together, petulant in his posture, occasionally sniffing loudly.

"What the fuck did you do? Crack or something?" he muttered, rolling his eyes.

Yami tilted his head. "The white stuff?"

He felt a chill course through him. "Yami, tell me you didn't do…the white stuff."

He shook his head immediately. "There was no white stuff."

"Have you ever…done…the white stuff?"

Again, an immediate shake of his head. "I don't do drugs."

"Oh, thank god."

"Who?"

"G—Ra, Yami. Thank Ra."

Yami blinked and then nodded before frowning. "What am I thanking him for?"

Yugi snorted before shaking his head. "Yami, are you sure you want to fuck me?"

"Mmhmm. You're very pretty."

He wasn't sure whether to be insulted or flattered.

"But what about all the things going on?"

Yami didn't get it out of his mouth that this was _why _he got drunk. He started to, but then he stopped, and he didn't really understand in his haze why he did so, but he did. Instead he merely shrugged and then blinked.

Yugi made him feel good and that was what he wanted. To feel good.

Ra, what he wouldn't give to feel good right now…

At least the burning sensation was gone.

But the ache was still beneath his veins. And the exhaustion made his head feel heavy with something his hazy mind couldn't really pick up on.

"Please?"

Was he…_begging_?

Yami couldn't quite wrap his head around it and Yugi had just as hard a time grasping this concept.

"Yami, don't beg."

Was that what he was doing? Truly?

Yugi leaned forward and let one of his hands fist into his soft hair and the movement brought out a purr from Yami who looked confused even as he made the noise, almost as if he couldn't quite figure out how he was doing it, and Yugi smiled against his lips when he pressed them together.

"Not for this."

And Yami furrowed his brows, because he knew that statement from somewhere, because he had said it, but he couldn't really grasp _why _he ever said it.

Yugi didn't give him the answer and instead worked his mouth against his, let his tongue slip inside, let Yami play around by moving in circles around it, let him grab at his vest and pull him a little closer. He let him search his mouth, where that oh-so-sweet taste begged at his mind to be remembered but left him confused and tired from the effort of it all.

It took a moment, but Yugi managed to redirect his body's alignment to lay on the couch with his legs drawn up, open for Yami to slip between, unsurprised when Yami took up the space above him and decided to trade the task of kissing for breathing instead.

Yugi knew as well as a sober Yami would have that this was hardly the way to fix anything, as it had been the first night or the time that Yugi topped for the second time, but it was short-termed and it was what Yami needed.

And Yugi wanted the attention.

He so desperately craved it.

Because he was being deprived of it aside from snide comments and looks of disgust at school.

And he knew, in the back of his mind, that if it were not Yami, if it were just some random boy from school rather than him, it would be okay, because no one would care. But they were on separate sides of the spectrum, they were bad and good, smart and smartass, tiny and larger than life. Famous and…regular.

One's father was anti-gay and one's grandfather would be glad if Yugi would just get someone.

They were so completely opposite, but that was what made them fit.

Because of the opposition they brought with them, they balanced each other. They fit together like pieces of a puzzle. They could bleed into each other, feed off each other, and not worry about it later because it would be okay when they separated again. They fought and they tore into each other without remorse.

They bit and they scratched and they drew blood.

It was what they did.

And it was only done between them because no one else could take Yugi's inconsistency like Yami and no one could truly understand the red-eyed teen like Yugi.

They were broken in different places but that was what made them _right_.

But, if only, if only, Yami was not who he was and Yugi wasn't either.

Maybe everything would be so much easier.

Yami was against his stomach now, pulled away, kissing little paths along the indent in his flesh and sticking his tongue in his bellybutton, swirling the wet muscle and humming in the back of his throat for a few seconds.

Yugi moaned and writhed beneath him, because the touch of his tongue was sinful, delicious in its corruption, and he loved it so much that it made his head spin with delight and his pants so tight that it hurt in the most satisfying of ways.

His nose pushed Yugi's shirt up to his chest, up to his neck, kissing at his ribs one after the other in a way that made Yugi tremble and wonder what was with him. Was this affection he was giving him induced by alcohol or was it real?

And…if it was real…what did he want from him?

Yugi trembled with the thought of what Yami might want. If he wanted a relationship, Yugi couldn't give him that.

They all ended in failure. His parents, his grandparents, even his great-grandparents. His aunts on his dad's side. The only solid couple that he knew of was his grandparents on his dad's side and he only met them once and knew that they only succeeded by manipulating the other—his grandfather made the money, his grandmother _used _the money, his grandfather wanted to use some money and he had to go through her; in all actuality, he had no real footing in this marriage and it made Yugi sick to his stomach whenever he had interacted with them.

No, relationships…they never worked. He refused to become attached like that to anyone.

And that feeling was only intensified after what had happened with Tea. He'd crushed on her for so fucking long, actually thought that maybe they could be something later, but she was a bitch and he didn't understand how he could have such horrible luck.

But maybe it was also amplified by Yami's constant running after he handed his body over to him. Because he never stuck around for long. So maybe, despite how much he hated to admit it, there was a high chance that Yami's own actions had furthered his distrust for relationships.

A mouth, warm and needy and soft, kissed wet trails up and down his neck; teeth gently grabbed at the choker around his neck, tugged softly once, and then a soft pink tongue flattened and licked a path up the column of his flesh.

Yami's hands busied themselves with Yugi's waistband and Yugi opened his eyes into slits to regard him curiously; if Yami was expecting something, why would he have to get drunk to demand it?

In all honesty, Yami was stronger and faster and a lot scarier than Yugi was. He could fight him, yes, but Yami seemed like one of those people who could build stamina as time passed rather than lose energy. It was probably how he fought when he had to.

And Yugi knew for a fact that had Yami not been so sluggish and tired and exhausted that day when he looked him up online, he would have beaten the shit out of him and gotten out the house like he had wanted. It was honestly that easy for the red-eyed teen…

So if he wanted to demand something of him, he could force him. If he was the type of person who wanted to, he could have raped him a million times by now.

But Yami wasn't that type.

So demanding…was not in his nature.

Not directly, anyways.

He fought for what he wanted without making it too obvious and he clawed his way to his success because that was what he _did_. He didn't try to force something on another person just for the hell of it, because that wasn't who he _was_. He was fierce and dangerous, and if he wanted to, he could burn like fire, but he was more complex and so he didn't do those things.

No, if he wanted it, he would fight for it, but it would be in less obvious ways.

He wouldn't force Yugi into anything, but by the time it was all over, maybe he would triumph.

If he said no right now…

"No."

Yami stopped short, just as expected, his hands no longer pulling his pants down, his eyes wide as he tilted his head in confusion. "No?"

Yugi blinked and thought fast. "No, don't take off my socks."

He looked thoroughly confused now and then looked at Yugi's feet because, in all honesty, both of them knew he was nowhere near there yet. He had just gotten his jeans to his knees and Yami gave him a small frown of clear puzzlement before going back to slowly kissing from his pelvis to his inner thigh and then along his legs.

Fuck, was this…_worship_?

Was Yami…_worshipping him_?

Yugi blinked a few times. There was no way. No way at all…

That couldn't be it. Nope, Yugi was seeing things where there was nothing.

That was all.

Yep.

Yami pulled his pants all the way off and then looked at him curiously for a moment before suddenly he pulled back and then started digging around in his pockets before producing a small baggy of aluminum wrappers and holding them out to him.

"Do you want to use this? It's cleaner."

Wait, did _Yugi _want to use one or was he asking if he wanted _Yami _to use one?

"Wait, me use one or you use one?"

"You use one…I could use one too."

Yugi stared blankly for a long moment and Yami didn't move from where he was perched between his legs, still fully clothed and looking completely confused. And then, finally, his mind produced him with the incident in the stall, right before their pictures were shown everywhere in school. _Oh_,_ for fuck's sake_…

"Fine, fine, I will use one. Just, you don't."

Yami paused and then blinked before nodding slowly. "Um…okay."

Yugi ignored the question in the back of his mind demanding to know if Yami was going to carry condoms with him everywhere, like some kind of slut. Yugi wasn't going to spread his legs _that _often…at least not without the required persuasion to get past groping, anyways.

He half-smirked at that thought and then slowly came to realize why Yami had brought the bag out in the first place. The taller teen had tried to get his shirt off—the stretched material bunched up in slight places, the way his vest was pulled to lay on the top of his upper arms rather than his shoulders said this much.

He felt a small blush appear on his cheeks. Fuck him for being so caught up in his head rather than enjoying the mo—

He moaned and arched when he felt the finger inside of him, the slow pumping sensation making his skin tingle and his spine warm beneath his skin. Fire, ice and lightning crackled and fought inside him, his nerves hot like lava, his mind frozen like a glacier, and sparks flooding his system like shots of vibrant lightning.

A second finger had him squirming as well as writhing, arching and moaning louder, though it was still rather quiet in volume. He could get loud, but it seemed unconsciously, by default, he was rather quiet instead. Well, at least they had something in common outside of sexual stamina and hairstyles.

A third finger and he was scrabbling to grip at his shoulders and Yami was moving to accommodate him and then he was freed of fingers and whining and Yami was pressing into him, pausing every now and then and asking a very quiet and overly considerate, "Is this okay?" every time he tensed up.

"Yes, gods yes," Yugi hissed in response each time and when Yami settled again, he was a little surprised when the red-eyed teen looked his shirts over and then grabbed the bag he had brought, opening it and tearing open one of the condom wrappers with his teeth, rolling the protection onto Yugi's erection before he could say anything or even make a point to try it himself.

He was sloppy again, but despite this, Yugi was pleased with his aim. He was mewling and clawing his back up while Yami moved at different intervals, no rhythm for the life of him, just going with whatever his head was telling him. Moving fast and then slow and then medium and everything between.

It was funny and Yugi laughed a couple of times but eventually, Yami started to tire himself out and the smaller teen knew that neither of them were anywhere near an orgasm.

"All right, stop for a moment."

Yami blinked in confusion and stilled halfway inside of him again, panting raggedly like some kind of animal. Again, Yugi was not offended by this in the least, but he was a little annoyed, because Yami shouldn't be this tired.

Yugi was spoiled. That was it.

Because Yami lasted so long when he was sober and he was so used to him being sober that this—tiring out like this—felt like some kind of sick insult. And that was disgusting and rude by all means, but that was what it felt like.

"I need you to flip us over."

Yami looked at the floor and then the backrest and back, voicing the only thing in his head. "There isn't enough room."

And Yugi studied this as well before finally he pushed Yami by the shoulders; when the taller teen moved to accommodate him, his legs were around his waist and he pushed with all the weight his smaller body had to it, succeeding in making Yami topple over onto his back, wide-eyed and shocked.

He grinned proudly and winked at him before shifting his position slightly and starting to move, using the armrest over Yami's head to keep his balance, mewls and moans exploding through him with no effort on his behalf.

Yami moaned beneath him and gripped at his hips with gentle fingers, like maybe he was afraid of hurting him or offending him with this movement, but Yugi ignored this thought in order to reach his left hand back and grab Yami's, pressing his fingers into his skin tightly.

Yami obeyed this simple gesture, his grip tight as nails bit into his skin and made him throw his head back with a long shameless moan. The taller teen purred a little in response and again, when Yugi looked at him, his expression was confused even as he continued the deep baritone rumble in his chest.

Yugi cracked up at his expression, not even managing to stop as he teetered over the edge and came inside of the condom. Yami came a second later when he settled back with the taller teen bottomed out inside him, too tired to move again for a few minutes.

It took a long ten minutes but eventually Yugi finally got up the energy—part of him was sleepy from their activities and the other from the lateness of the night—to pull away, watching as Yami licked his lips and leaned forward a little.

Yugi took the condom off and tied it, as he knew he was supposed to do, dumped the others onto the table, and then dropped it inside the baggy that had formerly held them all; when he turned back Yami sat up a little and he was holding a couch cushion as he looked at the TV and back before muttering, "I'm tired, Yugi."

"It _is _three in the morning," Yugi commented, yawning softly and watching him curiously; he kind of liked the small yet heavy lilt to his voice, the way his words slurred together to show how drunk he truly was. It was odd but it was so fascinating to the small teen and he couldn't help but love the way it melded with the naturally deep baritone pitch.

"Oh…"

"Actually…" He reached over and tapped his phone screen before turning back. "It's four-thirty."

They hadn't lasted as long as he had thought but that was okay. It was whatever.

"Yugi…?"

He laughed at the way his own name came out, eyes bright as he regarded him; it was strangely adorable, something he never thought he would use to describe the fire-eyed boy facing him.

"Yeah?"

For a moment Yami didn't speak, instead opening and closing his mouth twice before yawning and showing off his teeth with the movement, his canines sharp and attention-grabbing as they glinted with the bright, ever-changing light from the TV.

"I love you."

These words did not come out nearly as slurred as when he spoke his name but Yugi still burst out laughing anyways, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "You really _must _be drunk off your ass," he cackled.

"I'm not drunk," Yami spat, glaring at him coldly which made Yugi freeze in surprise, eyes wide at the suddenly sober-like expression of pure rage on his face. "I'm…just a little buzzed."

Yugi opened his mouth to answer him, say that he was not "just a little buzzed" but then something collided with his face and he was startled by its impact—not hard but not completely soft either—especially when it was followed by seven more hits before it suddenly stopped.

He was still so completely confused until his eyes lowered and he stared openly at the boy in front of him. Yami had passed out and the pillow he had been holding was half stretched out towards him.

So Yami had beaten him up with a throw pillow.

That was nice.

Yugi shrugged a shoulder and turned back to the TV.

* * *

Yami felt some kind of sense of dread even as he walked home after school that day. His instincts told him to turn around and run. Everything in his body was telling him to flee the other way. His mind failed to rationalize this, however, so he could not find a reason to obey.

He glanced around a couple of times and then turned back; the black car was down the street so obviously it wasn't them…

And Yugi wasn't around because he had not seen him since Saturday after he had woken up, stared at him asleep on the couch a few feet from him and then taken off; in school he had noticed him but not acknowledged him, which was cruel by all means, but Yami had the memories this time around, thick and fuzzy, but still there. And what he said…

Topped with Yugi's no…

He couldn't face him.

Ra, he couldn't _face_ him.

Yami shook this off to get back to his house, slipping inside and going upstairs to his room, doing his daily routine of heading into one of the spare bedrooms to do homework because it was at least distracting, only to freeze and go completely still, hand grabbing his backpack hard, mouth dry as he stared with wide eyes. Oh holy fuck, he should have run.

With long thick gray eyebrows, a rather regal gray beard and mustache cut to shape his jaw and a shaved head, stood his father who looked over and stared back at him just as he did the same.

"Atem."

He nearly fled with that one word but forced himself to throw his keys onto the side table and drop his backpack to the ground, giving him a small dip of his head and murmuring, "Father" in a soft voice.

Ra, he really should have recognized that sense of fear. It was branded into him, after all…How could he have not realized?

"My…Your _mother _sent me."

It was so terribly hard _not _to recognize the significance of that statement. A week before and she had been his wife and now she was back to being his mother. How strange. Had something changed in that amount of time?

Surely not, because Yami was back to getting plastered and fucking Yugi and…

No, he shot it out of his head.

It couldn't be true.

Yugi was a balm to his pain because he was in the same boat. There was nothing significant about that.

He lowered his head, staring at the ground, as he knew he was supposed to do. "Mother?" he said softly. "How is she?"

"She is shamed."

That wasn't what he meant at all.

And his father knew that.

Fucking ass that he was.

"I trained you from scratch as a boy, to make you into the perfect child and future ambassador. But you have ruined it all."

Yami blinked and then slowly looked up through his lashes, staring in confusion. "I don't understand," he admitted slowly. _Trained_ him? Was he a dog now?

He flinched and recoiled instinctively when he slammed a hand down against the desk and the noise was like a slap through the house.

"I mean that you were _shown _what it means to be a man, and your place in the world from a _young _age."

Yami stared with wide eyes. _How young…_?

He didn't voice this.

"Even at the age of two months, you were a spoiled _brat_!" he growled. "You cried nonstop when you wanted something or when you didn't get your way. Your mother coddling you and tending to your every beck and call did nothing but spoil you further. It hindered you, as I knew it would, and it only hurt you in the long run."

Two months…?

"You're fucking crazy!" Yami spat, staring at him incredulously. What did he do to him?

The room was deathly quiet but for the sounds of their breathing as they glared at one another. Yami was not about to bend, however, because he was in no mood to try to please him.

He had too much going on as it was _without _his stupid little issues to throw into the mix and he wished his father hadn't come here at all in the first place.

"You better fucking apologize," he whispered menacingly.

Yami felt a tremor race through him. "No." He took a small step back, gulping hard. "You…you disciplined me at two months? You weren't supposed to do that! I couldn't understand anything back then. You only teach a child things when they can actually _understand _it, not when they're a baby and don't know any better. I cried because I was hungry and Mom catered to me because that is what she was supposed to do as my fucking mo—"

His head whipped to the side and he stumbled with the force of the blow, feeling his jaw crack with the impact, his eyes feeling almost as if they might pop out of his head and roll across the floor. Yami blinked once and then looked at him with wide eyes; of course this was _far _from the first time he had ever hit him, but the fact that he was still standing, that his father hadn't put his full strength into it, said that he was in for far worse…

"You will not speak to me like that!" he screamed. "Apologize."

"Fuck. You," Yami hissed under his breath.

His hand rose up to strike him again but he went tumbling backwards when Yami shoved him and snarled, "Fuck you, you goddamned bastard! I will not kneel before you like some kind of coward!"

His dark brown eyes were darker now, almost black with pure rage, his tanned face red with the emotion, visibly shaking. Yami backed up again, trembling. Holy shit. What had he just fucking _done_?

When he backed up into the wall, his phone went off but he was too terrified to bother fishing it out of his pockets; god, the rage, this had to be where he had always gotten it from. This monster in front of him…had created the one in him…

"I don't know who the fuck you think you are. I am your father, and you are my son. You will show me the respect I deserve. I thought allowing you to come to this pathetic continent as you wanted was going to make you a better man, but you are nothing but a _disgrace_!"

He pressed himself flat against the wall. He wasn't going to get through this unscathed. Of course not.

"What the fuck do they want?"

His voicemail went off, the noise of it making Yami's ears ring for the single three seconds it sounded.

"F-father, I'm sorry I pushed you and swore at you. I k-know better than to do that," he said desperately.

"You have shamed my wife"—Yami flinched again, not at the raised voice, not at the way he advanced on him, but at the implication—"You have brought such shame upon our family. Do you know how _pathetic _it is to go to a protest and find a picture of _you _kissing another _boy_? Project partner? I think not. She is depressed and won't stop crying, and _you _brought this upon her. It's going to take me _years _to make Egypt forget this disgrace."

"Father, I don't know how to make this better!" Yami cried out in desperation, head suddenly swimming with the memory of seeing that protest on the Egyptian newspapers he followed online, of seeing his picture with Yugi, of the two of them joined at the lips; it had been sent out right before the rally to only his father four hours after it had been spread around his school. It hadn't been surprising when his father had disowned him over the phone like he had but it had been surprising that the picture hadn't circulated around in Egypt until the day of the rally in which the picture had been blown up drastically and his own name was scrawled beneath it; in the news reports it said that over two hundred of that single picture had shown up at that single rally. "I will do anything, but please don't let her suffer for my mistakes."

"It's already _your _fault that she is suffering," he spat. "She didn't ask to give birth to a boy who does nothing but fuck up."

"Father—"

"Enough!"

Yami let out no noise when his fist hit his chest and hands grabbed his mouth and nose, his entire body falling back into old habits; he couldn't fight back or make a noise because it only made things worse. It was a good thing that Yami could go ten minutes without breathing, at least. It was the eleventh minute that brought the spots behind his eyes just as his father pulled back and allowed him to fall to his knees, breathing hard before feeling his hand grabbing the back of his neck, throwing him to his feet, forcing him to look up at him.

"I should have known better than to trust a fuck up like you."

"Father, I'm sorry. I am doing the best I can—"

That was such a tired excuse. How many times had he been forced to say it in his lifetime? Far too many for just sixteen years…

"No you are not! I have seen with my own eyes you and that—that _creature_! I have seen the pictures—how you kiss him when you should have a woman by your side. Does he suck your dick that well?" he snarled.

"I—I'm sorry. I—I will do better…"

When he threw him across the floor it wasn't much of a surprise but when he jerked him to his feet and pressed his thumbs into the pressure points on his shoulders, Yami was a second away from screaming but clamped it down with a desperation he had known since he was six.

"I get it. Please, I get it. I'm a fuck up, and I know I will never be good enough. I'm sorry. I don't know how to make this better—"

"You will fucking _listen_ to me!"

"Okay, okay, anything…"

He released him and Yami scrambled away from him and towards the hallway, putting some distance between them before he could grab him again, scrambling to his feet and breathing hard.

"You will stop this pathetic behavior. And you will find a woman who will be _worth _the Sennen family name."

"I can't…I can't just…I am—"

* * *

His phone was ringing, of that much Yugi knew.

Because the voicemail kept fucking popping up and it was annoying the shit out of him; why wouldn't he just answer the phone?

For a moment he figured that maybe he just didn't care enough. He had been avoiding him rather steadily since Saturday when he said…no, Yugi refused to believe that. There was no fucking way that was true.

But even then, Yami had answered his phone when he needed him. And he needed him right now. He needed to talk to _someone _and honestly, Yami was the only one he could think to do so. So why the fuck wasn't he answering?

Yugi crossed his arms in annoyance and redialed before texting twice and waiting a minute before doing so again. And still, after ten minutes and twenty new calls and texts, Yami still did not answer.

Which meant that either he was asleep—that was funny—or something had happened.

Wait…hadn't he heard his cousins talking about Yami jumping off a cliff before? Yes, he had. Bakura and Malik said that he jumped off the side of the cliff claiming he was cliff diving but both of them seemed to think he was suicidal…

Oh, holy fuck…

Yugi dug through his apps for a few minutes before finally coming up to the one he wanted and typing in the number and phone service—that one took longer because he couldn't remember who the fuck Yami's provider was—before running it. For a long two minutes in which Yugi was pretty close to panicking, the app finally gave him a location…about twenty blocks away.

He groaned but knew he didn't have money for a taxi and instead settled for running; at least his bullies had left him with something worthwhile when they chased him home when he was younger.

It took a while before he was even close to the neighborhood and he had to pass a few people who yelled when he tore past them as he did, one girl sobbing because he knocked an ice cream cone out of her hand and all over his shirt; he ignored her and her mother screamed at him that he was on her shit list—not that he really cared, but there was a moment where he wanted to stop short and ask who else had the pleasure of being on it—but she didn't chase him, which was good, because she would have probably lost her child to a stranger in the meantime.

He got to a two-story house—or three, if you counted the basement who's side window he spotted from the angle he was running from—with white wooden exterior, nice green grass, a couple of trees, a few bushes, some ivy, a porch, a small mailbox…the essentials of a nice yard.

He was semi-jealous of it. Damn, this neighborhood was actually really nice.

He ignored that thought to knock on the door but there was no answer and when he knocked again and got nothing, he tried the doorknob to find that it was unlocked.

Fear made his nerves prickle and fire beneath his skin made his head throb slightly as he pushed the door open and entered the house. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do past that. If Yami had cut himself or something, should he call an ambulance? But what if he was already dead? What was the point of that?

He never really did understand what the point was of calling an ambulance for a dead body. He thought the stupid morgue took care of bodies, after all.

Rolling his eyes at his own thoughts, he closed the door behind him and wandered into the house.

There was a small marble-like set of small, tiny steps that led the way to carpet floors further away. There were steps somewhere off to his left, but he let his eyes sweep over the living room before he bothered with that; there was a TV, two couches, a coffee table, but not much else. Oh, a plant…wow, Yami had a cactus. Windows decorated the room and it looked pretty cool, like a place where you could throw a ton of parties and the neighbors would complain loudly about the person next door.

He was about to call out Yami's name when his attention drifted to a dark red spot on the carpet, tilting his head as he followed it to the stairs where he nearly threw up.

Yami was lying haphazardly across the bottom of them, body twisted in ways that didn't seem quite comfortable, nor physical possible, his head busted open and bleeding. Yugi nearly threw up again; he could feel the bile in the back of his throat and panic seized him as he looked the scene over.

Obviously Yami had either fallen or—holy fuck, was that a bruise mark? No, that was _several _bruise marks. His face was bruised up and there were handprints on his neck, his right cheek was bright red and swollen, and his jaw had a rather nasty rub burn from his topple down the stairs. And the bruises around his eye…yeah, no, he hadn't fallen. Someone had either pushed him or maybe he got attacked and they both went over the stairs but only the other one had gotten up afterwards.

Yugi forced his feet over to his side, swallowing hard once before crouching down next to him, grabbing his wrist. His pulse was a little on the weaker side he found when he compared his own to Yami's, but when he looked down, Yami was breathing as if he were asleep.

He almost cried from laughing so hard.

And then he felt like shit because he was laughing and he should have been trying to wake him.

Or no, maybe he wasn't supposed to do that…

For fuck's sake…

"Hello?" he murmured. "I need an ambulance at"—shit, what the fuck was Yami's address?—"Um, I don't know where the hell I am, actually. I need you to trace this call. Anyways, my friend is unconscious with a massive head wound. I think he was pushed down the stairs. I don't know for sure though…Hmm? Oh yes, I can hold."

It was weird, because he never really thought that people were put on hold when calling the police, but whatever floated their boats was fine by him. Besides, he had nothing better to do anyways.

"We have your location. We will send someone in a moment."

"Okay, thanks, I guess."

Shit, was that what he was supposed to say?

He had no experience with this whatsoever, so he wondered vaguely if this would make him look suspicious, but at the same time, he pushed the thought away because, well, fuck, whatever. Who would be stupid enough to call in their own fucking crime unless they knew they wouldn't get caught?

But Yugi had left so many clues it was not even funny.

Yami didn't stir beside him even when the ambulance came. The wails made his ears want to bleed but it did not wake the other boy, not that he really expected it to anyways; Yugi watched them load him onto a gurney and he was kind of stunned when they asked if he was coming to the hospital. He debated it for a split second and then jumped into the ambulance with him, watching the paramedics closely as they did…well, whatever the fuck it was they did.

Yami was taken into surgery—Yugi hadn't thought any of it merited that, to be honest, because he looked okay for the most part, but they insisted—immediately and he was left in the waiting room where he watched a soap opera with the most annoying characters he had ever seen but found the parallel of their situation and his.

Boy loved girl. Girl didn't like him. Boy tried to weasel his way into her heart. Girl rejected him heartlessly. And then it stopped with parallels because the guy went bat-shit crazy and slaughtered her by running her ass over several times without remorse.

Okay, well, at least that much was interesting.

"Motou, Yugi?"

He looked over as one of the doctors came over with a clipboard, looking him over and then checking the clipboard and back before taking a seat next to him. "Your friend is in the recovery bay. He's still asleep but you can go and visit him if you want."

"Why did he need surgery? It didn't look that bad," he muttered a little coldly.

The doctor gave him a strange look before offering a small smile. "He broke two of his ribs when he fell and he has a major concussion from the impact, so it is quite possible that he might not even remember half of the things that happened. And the way he landed on his wrist gave it a small fracture."

"Is he going to need a cast?"

Yugi would sign it if he did.

"No, he just needs a brace."

Damn. "Okay."

"Would you like to visit him?"

"Is there a chance he won't wake up today?"

For a moment the doctor just studied him curiously before standing up. "Not a high one. He seems like a pretty strong kid. I wouldn't be surprised if he woke up already."

Yugi frowned a little and then got up. "Yeah, lead the way, doc."

He chuckled but Yugi wasn't joking. He didn't know his name and he didn't give a fuck what it was. And what was worse, he didn't even know if he wanted to fucking see Yami in the first place.

How fucked up was that?

He was asleep and Yugi turned to talk to the doctor only to find the bastard had left him; he huffed softly and turned back, feeling a rush half of relief and half of disappointment at this small fact. He leaned against the door and felt sick to his stomach.

Yami's face…he hadn't noticed it all in the wake of finding him, but he had a look of pure helplessness, defeat, of apprehension that just did not suit him at all.

He wanted to throw up when he saw the black brace around his right wrist, the cuts that he had noticed on his face, the burns from the rug, the patch of hair that had been shaved in order to stitch up the head wound, the cream-colored bandages wrapped around his torso.

He moved closer slowly, his steps tentative as he stopped a few steps away from the bed, glancing once out into the hallway awkwardly and then turning back slowly only to see him wince and squirm in his sleep; he was just about to take a seat and busy himself with the task of simply staring at vacant white walls when his gaze spotted something red from the corner and it took him a moment to realize it was a pair of eyes.

"What…are you doing here?"

Yugi blinked wide eyes and then opened and closed his mouth before staring back blankly. What was he supposed to say?

Why _was _he here?

God, his eyes were the shade of the blood that Yugi had found in the carpet, such a stark contrast from the sterile white of the walls surrounding them.

For a moment he didn't answer and then finally he glanced at the chair behind him, hooked his foot around its front leg and dragged it closer, plopping down and watching him closely as he said, "I wanted to see how you were."

As if it was that simple.

Yami merely stared at him in return and for whatever reason, this time it made his blood boil beneath his skin with self-consciousness, something that Yugi had not really suffered since he was thirteen, right before he hit that phase where attention…meant everything.

"I only wanted to see if you were okay. And by the sounds of things, you're fine. So I think I am going to just go now." He stood up abruptly and started for the door but a low, sharp keening noise made him spin around with a startled expression, only to find that Yami really _had_ made that noise; it was obvious in the way he had grabbed his head afterwards, grimacing sharply and then giving him a pleading look.

"S-stay? Please?"

He stared and stared and stared some more.

Because this all seemed so unnatural and surreal that he couldn't accept it at first.

"Why?"

But he was really more curious of the answers that his skeptical and hurting head sought with the unvoiced questions of, _Why do you want me to say_? _Why _should _I stay_? _Why do we always seem to run from each other like this_? _Why does it feel like anything to come out of our mouths will only hurt us _that _much more_?

But mostly, his head buzzed with the desperate plea for the answer to, _Why…why would someone like you _ever _love someone like me_?

Yugi found himself staring into a pair of eyes, glazed over and exhausted but fully coherent, that actually seemed to _realize _this.

"Because…I want you to…? Please?"

Yami took a deep breath in through his nose and then hissed before rubbing at his bandaged ribcage and looking confused.

"I thought they gave you pain medication…"

"They did…I just…it just normally doesn't work on me anyways."

"So…what hurts then?"

"Mostly my ribs. I mean, they are fucked, after all…" He looked at the bandages for a moment and then rolled his eyes before turning his head back to him, red eyes searching his face for something that Yugi wasn't quite sure he would ever find.

"Should I get a nurse or something?"

"No. I'm okay." He paused. "Do you know what happened? Because when I think back, I don't find much. Just that I got home from school…"

"I wasn't there. But they say you have a concussion, so that's probably it."

"Yeah…they told me."

"So, um…how do you feel?"

Was small talk really supposed to be this hard?

"Ugh, like shit. Everything hurts."

Yugi fought to ignore the way that Yami kept his eyes trained solely on his face, seeming to take in every little thing that the smaller boy did.

He sighed and then winced and bared his teeth, muttering, "Fuck" under his breath before glancing at his monitor and then back, eyes widening slightly as if he thought the smaller one would be gone when he turned back.

But this time his eyes were blazing and Yugi was stuck staring.

"How did you find me anyways?"

"I used my Track My Phone app." He frowned and watched Yami narrow his eyes. "You weren't answering."

"Did you need something?"

"Yes."

"What did you need?"

He didn't tell him that he wanted to talk to someone, that he needed someone and Yami was actually the first person to come to mind. Instead he said what he knew Yami was waiting for him to.

"A distraction."

Yami held his eyes for exactly six seconds before closing them and for a moment Yugi debated the idea that possibly Yami realized he was lying but then dismissed it as the red-eyed teen spoke again. "Right. Okay. You can _fuck off _now."

Yugi was not the least bit surprised by the sharpness of his tone, shrugging and starting for the door before hearing a small voice muttering, "I think it was my dad…" so softly that he almost didn't hear it.

He turned around slowly and put a hand against the doorjamb, watching him with narrowed eyes before slowly walking towards him again. "Your dad?"

"I think…I don't know. I try to sort through my head and it just…doesn't work."

"That's what concussions do to you," he said a little sharply.

Yami shot him a nasty look and then closed his eyes, voice quiet when he forced himself to speak. "Am I just a booty call for you?"

"Aren't I the same to you?" Yugi asked cautiously.

"I'm out of commission so go find someone else to fuck."

"Yami—"

"You have a bunch of fuck buddies lined up for the taking," he spat, glaring, "so just go find one, hook up, get your fix, and stay the fuck out of my life. Everything would be that much fucking simpler."

"Oh shut the fuck up. Life is never _meant _to be simple. If it's simple, you're not _living._"

"Get out."

"No. You've pissed me off so I think I'm going to stay here."

Yami glared at him angrily for a moment and then seemed to lose all will to continue fighting as he looked at his monitor and then the TV on the wall and even the clock before finally turning back to him with narrowed eyes.

"Just _fuck _off, Yugi. Run off to one of your other fuck buddies. I don't need you here."

"Why do you fucking _do this _to me, damn it? You're such a little bitch sometimes, Yami," Yugi snarled, stepping closer to the bed and glaring. "Why the fuck did you even want me to stay here?"

For a long moment there was no answer and then the red eyes drifted to settle on his right hand where he flexed his fingers and muttered, "Because I fucking love you."

Yugi recoiled. He was sober. He was not drugged up. His eyes were glazed with exhaustion, not medication. Why the fuck was he saying this?

No, he couldn't love him. That wasn't how any of this worked. There was no fucking way…

"What?"

It came out sharp, and nasty, and brutal, and as a huff rather than a word.

Yami refused to answer, refused to look up.

"You…_love _me?" Yugi repeated, his voice coming out incredulous and a little cold; still Yami didn't answer, didn't look up, didn't bother to turn his head slightly towards him in acknowledgment. "Answer me, damn it."

"Are you fucking _deaf _now?" Yami spat, turning his head. "Did your voice do that to you or did someone finally scream for you, Yugi?"

He shook his head slowly, staring at him in disbelief. Yami didn't mean it. He _couldn't _mean it. There was no possible way. It was just an infatuation, some kind of sick fascination and disgusting obsession, nothing more and nothing less. Yugi couldn't handle this…

"You don't love me."

Yami did not answer but he stared and that stare said it all.

"No." He shook his head and let out a bark of a laugh, smiling sardonically. "How could you, damn it? How could you really, Yami? You and I…we don't even know each other. People in love…they don't treat each other the way we do. You don't just fall in love with someone when you _know _you mean nothing to them and they mean nothing to you. It's some sick infatuation that we're dealing with and you are blowing it out of proportion. You don't fucking…you don't just—Yami, even you aren't stupid enough to think you _love _me. This is all just some stupid ploy to get back at your father for all the shit he's put you through. That's _all_."

Yami's jaw tightened.

"Do you even _know _what love _is—_?"

"Fuck you," Yami spat, spinning on him so suddenly that Yugi stumbled back from the blaze in his eyes; it didn't take much to realize that Yami had clenched both hands into fists and his right looked like it was trembling from the pain he must have been in. "Do you take me for a fucking _idiot_?"

"What?"

"Do you _honestly _think I would say that to someone—to a fucking _guy—_if I didn't fucking _mean _it? Not to fucking mention, the school slut?" Yami barked.

"I…I don't know."

And he didn't. Because his head was spinning and he was confused and he didn't like the way things were going. And he was scared of the way that Yami kept saying those three words. Especially now…when he was…sober.

"Fuck you. Get the hell out."

"How the fuck can you _honestly _expect me…to just…leave after you say something like that?" he demanded hotly, glaring, feeling his teeth grind into each other angrily as he saw Yami snort in response.

"You don't even fucking believe it anyways. So get the fuck out."

Yugi felt a sweep of panic overtake him when Yami finally lowered his eyes towards his trembling hand and then released the fist he had been making to flex his shaking fingers out, the slender digits bright red with blood deprivation.

"I do…I mean…I don't know if I do. I don't know if I can…it just…you have to be the most confusing and frustrating and irritating and annoying and—you make me want to bash my head in sometimes. I don't know what the fuck to believe."

Yami opened his mouth to answer but ended up doubling over and rubbing at his ribs, frowning.

"Are you okay?"

"I am fucking _peachy_," he spat, turning on him again. "Now get the fuck out."

"No."

"Ra."

He took a small tentative step forward and then forced himself to shuffle a couple more in order to reach out and place his hand on his shoulder, feeling shaken by that defeated look that crossed his face again.

"Don't fucking _touch_ me," Yami snarled viciously, but it was a whisper of a noise and though Yugi took his hand away, he wasn't really listening when he did so.

And then silence stretched between them, suffocating like the thickest blanket of a fog and weighing them down with the force of granite.

His words would probably be too soft to even cut into it, so he didn't bother trying, but Yami…his words were always sharp enough to tear through flesh, through bone, through steel, so it was sharp enough to cut the foggy granite, and that was why he spoke instead.

"So you think I don't know what love is, huh?"

Yugi watched as he kept his eyes trained solely on that fractured wrist again.

"Well, maybe I don't. Maybe you're right and I'm misinterpreting shit that shouldn't even _be_ there. So, why don't you fucking tell me what the fuck it is that I'm feeling, Yugi? Because you seem to be the expert on this—not really a surprise, considering your little bullshit crush on that bitch Tea. Tell me though, so I can understand a little better. Tell me why I don't eat properly anymore, why I haven't since this whole thing began—since the picture and we started hanging out together. Tell me why I burn under my skin in places I didn't even know existed and you're the only thing that makes it stop. Tell me why I can't sleep properly anymore, why the only reason I can even sleep anymore is because I tire myself out physically and mentally. Tell me why I think about you _all the goddamned time_!"

Yugi stared with wide eyes as he turned his head and stared, his face impassive as ever, but his eyes still defeated and swimming in it.

"Tell me why the thought of you going around with others"—his lips twisted and his teeth were bared for a split second—"Why does imagining that make me _hurt_?" He shook his head slowly, narrowing his eyes. "I don't get hurt easily, Yugi. In fact, the only people who can hurt me? My parents. Bakura. Malik. Seto. Mokuba. That's it. Six people."

Yugi wanted to look away but he couldn't. Yami's eyes were relentless and unforgiving, boring into his without a single bit of remorse towards his actions.

"Like when my father called up the day after the picture went viral around school to tell me I was a fucking disgrace, that hurt like hell but still it was _nothing _compared to how I feel whenever I think of you with someone else."

Yami bit out a laugh as he turned back to his wrist, flexing his fingers which trembled from the force of the brace.

"And so you're the fucking expert on love, right? But I tell you I love you and you laugh in my face about it. So, why don't you tell me about it, Yugi? Tell me about how the fuck it is you have managed to fucking ruin me without lifting a goddamned finger."

Yugi was stunned when he ducked his head and his bangs fell to shadow his face; he was reeling, which was why he honestly didn't think that he could _possibly _stand with the way his legs started to feel weak and so slowly turned and perched on the edge of the seat next to Yami's bed.

"I was never just _saying_ that everything hurt."

Yugi felt sick to his stomach. "Then why…? There's no fucking way, Yami. It just isn't possible. It makes no fucking sense. This…was meant to be some kind of stupid fling. We fuck, we don't talk about it. We sure as fuck don't get attached and fall in love!"

"I don't know why this happened. But I'm so tired. I just…I hate feeling like this. I hate the burn beneath my skin and the ache in my chest. I hate the feeling. It drives me insane, and I end up doing stupid things. Honestly, Yugi, do you think I _want _this? Do you think I _want _to _love you_? I have never felt like this before, not for anyone. If the teacher had never paired us together, this…would never have happened."

There was a long silence.

"What about Mai?"

"Mai?" Yami echoed, blinking once. "What about Mai?"

"She has a thing for you."

"I know."

"So why didn't you two hook up?"

Yami didn't answer for the longest time and then shook his head with his hands over his face. "I don't…I don't feel that way about her. I don't feel that way about anyone. I haven't had to deal with this before you—the stupid bad boy—got paired with me for this project. I never would have…"

"This was supposed to be for fun."

"I know."

"A way to relieve stress."

"I know."

"So then why the fuck has it ended up like _this_?"

"I don't know."

Yugi shook his head angrily, clenching his jaw. "This doesn't fucking make any goddamned sense, Yami," he snapped before glaring sharply. "Why did you even fucking _tell _me?"

Yami turned his head and stared with wide eyes.

"Why did you have to fuck me up even more than I already _am_?"

"W-what?"

"You shouldn't have fucking said it. Not when you were drunk and not now."

"Why?"

"Because…because it was never supposed to _be _like _this _with us!"

"I am so fucking sorry for the inconvenience. I can't fucking help how I feel."

Yugi fell silent for a long minute. "I know. But…you should never have said it."

Yami stared at the ground and Yugi spent a few minutes trying to wrap his head around what he was supposed to do, to get rid of the claustrophobic impression the whole situation left on his chest. And he knew without thinking that it was his turn to break the silence.

"So…what now?"

Yami shrugged halfheartedly and turned his attention to the covers, messing with them, picking at them without a single noise to be made.

And then Yugi realized it.

Nothing had changed between them.

Not really.

So he told him that he loved him, but he did not tell him what he _wanted _from him, nor that he _wanted _him, did not tell him that he wanted to _be with _him.

And like he said, he didn't _want _to love him. He just…couldn't help it.

Why did this feel worse than Tea's constant rejection?

"Why did you even tell me this?"

"I…wanted you to know? How I felt? Because I…I thought I…"

Yugi knew what he meant to say, like he always seemed to, and shook his head slowly back and forth, again saying, "You shouldn't have fucking said it."

"And why not?" Yami demanded sharply, coldly, eyes narrowing into slits of pure anger.

"Because it's not fair. You can't just tell me you love me and then just…"

He trailed off and Yami's lips twisted into a bitter half-smile, nodding once before turning away again, his fingers going about tracing at the red flare of color that touched his braced hand's skin, the actions meant to be soothing but only leaving him feeling that much worse. "But, just so you know…I didn't say it just because. I actually had a reason for getting drunk off my ass that night. And I don't know why I bothered to say it because I knew…Look, whatever, this conversation is fucking pointless anyways."

"Not, it's not."

"Yes, it _is_. I'm just another one of your fuck buddies. I get it. It's that simple."

Yugi opened his mouth but was cut off.

"So get the fuck out."

Yugi sighed and got to his feet before starting for the door.

"Can I ask you something?"

Yami didn't answer but Yugi hadn't truly expected him to and the single smallest almost inaudible touch of the rustle of fabric that the smaller boy assumed was the sheet told him that he was waiting for him to say what was on his mind.

"Are you…Do you still love me? Even after this?"

When he turned his head to look over his shoulder, he could see Yami nod once curtly before turning to his monitors.


	12. Fact of the Matter

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Note: Story will be updated every Wednesday**

**Warning: TONS of cursing throughout story**

**Chapter Warning: Chapter is rated M for abuse, near-rape scenario, and mentions of homophobia**

**Abuse Warning: Abuse is mentioned but not graphically described in the fourth part of chapter.**

**Near-Rape Scenario Warning: There is a forceful attempt at nonconsensual/non-con sex in the seventh part of chapter. Not too graphic but definitely there.**

**Homophobia Warning: Homophobia is mentioned briefly on several occasions. Aside from that, I was just putting the warning so no one was made mad by this (Honestly, though, in retrospect, you can probably figure out which character it is before they are mentioned). Again, don't support it but it definitely worked for the story so I put it in there.**

Chapter XII: Fact of the Matter

Yami woke to this dull throbbing in the back of his head and momentarily wondered if he had somehow gotten drunk while he was there. Maybe one of the nurses slipped it into his IV…

Ra, he'd turned into a conspiracy theorist.

He was just about to look at the monitor when a movement caught his eyes and he snapped his head around to see that Bakura and Malik were sitting a few feet away, playing with their DS's while Seto was talking to Mokuba about something or other.

"What are you guys doing here?" he muttered softly.

All four of them looked up, Malik and Bakura nearly dropping their systems and then cursing when their characters started dying while Seto raised an eyebrow and Mokuba squirmed, looking ready to jump up and hug him but unable to due to the heavy cast on his right leg.

"Well, let's see, shall we? You're in the hospital and—well, no, I think that sums it up pretty well," Bakura stated with a roll of his eyes.

Yami rolled his eyes in response and then Malik took it up and Seto rolled his eyes at their childishness, unconsciously mirroring the three of them.

"Besides, Mokuba wanted to see you before we left," Seto answered.

Mokuba nodded enthusiastically. "So, does it hurt?"

Yami groaned. "Everywhere."

But he said it teasingly so it sounded like he was just playing around with Mokuba rather than the fact that he was telling the truth. Everything did hurt. Everywhere. His heart hurt. His lungs hurt. His liver hurt. Fuck, he was starting to think even his gallbladder hurt and he didn't even know where the hell it _was_.

"If you tell them you have a headache, they give you really nice drugs," the eight-year-old announced.

The other three shot him looks and Yami chuckled.

"It does hurt but I don't think I need anything for it right now."

"So…I think we all want to know what the hell happened," Seto announced in a businesslike manner. "And how the hell you ended up here if you were unconscious like the doctors said."

"I don't really know any of that," he confessed.

"What? Why wouldn't you know?" Mokuba asked in confusion, glancing at the others to see if they knew what he was talking about.

"I…hit my head really hard on the way down," Yami said with a small frown, shrugging. "Apparently I got a concussion from it. Things are really blurry when I try to figure out what happened."

"Oh. I had one of those. It wasn't fun."

All of them smirked at him before turning away again.

"So you don't know who brought you here?"

"Oh, no, I know that much," he replied, frowning slightly. "Yugi did, actually."

"What the hell was he doing there? Were you two about to shack up again?"

Bakura hit him so hard he doubled over in surprise before giving him a sharp look to which the silver-haired teen growled, "He's eight, you idiot. You can't go around just saying crap like that."

The lavender eyes shot towards Mokuba and then back, the blond blushing slightly. "Right…"

Seto decided not to comment and tell them that Mokuba already _knew _what all of this meant because some idiots in the staff had actually been talking about hookups while Mokuba was in his coma and of course the boy had heard it all; apparently his room had become the hot spot for all things gossip. The things that had come out of his mouth after they got back to the house had been rather astounding. Things that _no_ eight-year-old was supposed to know…

"No, we weren't," Yami muttered. "He called me so we could schedule working on the project and when I didn't answer, he freaked out and found me with his phone app and then apparently he found me on the ground bleeding. I don't know. I was already unconscious and again, I don't remember so don't bother asking."

"How bad is it?" Seto asked quietly.

"I don't know, really. Blurry images, fragments of voices…mostly mine actually. I don't understand what I was saying though. It all kind of jumbles together. And the images sometimes just turn black when I try to focus on them." He shrugged and then glanced at his monitor before laying his head back with a soft sigh. "So I honestly have no fucking idea what happened."

"Damn it, Yami! Not in front of the kid!"

The other three shot him incredulous looks while Mokuba blinked and looked at him, murmuring, "It's a strange day when you're the one trying to protect my innocence" to which all of them burst out laughing.

Bakura rolled his eyes and huffed, crossing his arms as he sat back in his seat and gave Yami a sideways glance. "So how's the food here?"

"It's actually okay. They just keep giving me meat."

"Fucking vegetarians," Malik muttered.

Seto snickered and Mokuba laughed while Bakura smirked and shook his head.

"I also learned that the pizza from the cafeteria downstairs sucks. Like badly. Like…so badly." He groaned and shook his head. "They almost ruined pizza for me. I would have slapped them if that had happened."

"So…back to the subject at hand. Do you remember if you fell or if you were pushed or what?"

"The doctors said I had to have been pushed."

"Why would they say that?"

Yami hesitated for a moment and then frowned, thinking hard about it before sighing, "Because of the angle and the way I landed. If I had just fallen, I wouldn't have broken my ribs. Plus, I had bruises all over." He raised his arm. "And my wrist was fractured prior to the landing and you know me, I don't usually have to use my hands to catch myself when I fall."

"What kind of bruises?" Seto pressed.

Yami opened and closed his mouth and then shook his head. "Ask the doctor. I'm fuzzy on all the details. I don't even remember half of what they said."

The brunet let out a simple hum of a noise in acknowledgment of his statement while Yami stared back up at the ceiling curiously for a moment before turning back; Mokuba frowned a little and the other two sixteen-year-olds shared a look before turning their attention to Seto who gave them a small nod before turning away again.

* * *

Yugi didn't call the entire week that Yami was there in the hospital. He didn't visit. And though Yami really wanted to, tried so hard to, he actually could not find it in himself to give a fuck. And oh, how he wished he could. Just because it seemed logical, like it was supposed to happen.

But too many things on his mind kept that from happening.

And, oh yes, Yugi not calling felt like one of his vital organs had been punctured and he was bleeding internally, but he had grown used to it because it was just there all the time. And, oh yes, not seeing Yugi made him feel like a drug addict with withdrawal symptoms. And, oh, how he wished he didn't care about the smaller boy, how badly he wished he could love someone else—female—but he didn't.

And that was the fact of the matter.

* * *

"Humph."

Yami only bothered to actually crack an eye open because he knew that gruff noise of impatience, looking at him through his lashes and watching him curiously for a second before shifting just enough to let him know he was awake and listening, settling his head back more into the pillow in boredom.

"Hurting much?"

"Not quite. More bored than anything else."

There was a small snicker that made his lips twitch the smallest bit in amusement. "Not much to do in a hospital."

"The most entertainment I get is when someone screams about being in pain."

"Must be fun."

"Very."

When he leaned forward Yami could smell that familiar scent of sharp spice and the chill of barren winter earth; for a moment his head swam with it, just because it was different from the stale medicine that burned his nose.

"So." Yami wanted to swat at the offending finger poking his shoulder gently but laziness prevented him doing so, instead opening his left eye to regard him curiously, turning his head some to watch the silver-haired teen who smirked and pulled his hand away to focus once more on studying him. "You look like shit."

"Your face isn't that great to look at either, Bakura," he sniped.

"Better looking than yours," he snickered, turning his nose up. "I mean, if that picture hadn't gone viral and nobody knew you were gay, I think a picture of you now would turn off any girl hoping to get with you."

His cheeks turned red for a split second before his teeth dug into his bottom lip, awkwardly folding it down some in order to give a strange appearance almost of baring his teeth through that small gap.

Bakura raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, instead watching as his younger cousin rolled his eyes and sighed without words; any other time and he would have pulled a joke about who was the top in their relationship but now was hardly that time so he did the smart thing and didn't open his mouth. The gratitude was actually tangible in the air and almost tasted of something like blood when he drew in a breath through his mouth, the sensation settling in his bones and swirling in his lungs almost like mist.

"Your father is an abusive dick."

At first he almost thought he didn't hear him, that maybe he had fallen asleep again in that single second his eye was closed again but then he heard the softest of snorts and a small light chuckle that made Bakura smirk in amusement.

"Isn't he?"

He didn't know what else to say so he stayed quiet for the moment, instead leaning forward a little more still, somehow mystified in the most sickening of ways by the fading bruises that still littered his skin. They'd be gone by the time he got back to school, but for now they were pale and disgusting in their yellowish tint and they made his flesh crawl but also drew his attention.

It was no secret that physical pain and blood was something of an obsession with Bakura when it came down to it. It was morbid and disgusting but he liked to see it in movies and he liked the feel of blood under his fingers or the strange yet gentle flicker of pain in another's skin when they flinched at the touch of flesh against harmful marks.

And he honestly wanted to touch Yami's. He wanted to see how badly he flinched, if not for his own morbid curiosity but for the fact that he wanted to see how much damage his father had inflicted. His fingers itched, craved it for a moment, but he managed to fight it off despite being unable to shift away from his position leaning over the red-eyed teen.

"He did a number on you."

"They're more superficial."

"So they don't hurt?"

"My wrist. And my head. Not so much the bruises." Yami paused for a second and then opened his eyes and looked at him, not at all surprised by the fact that he was so close to him now, instead raising an eyebrow; out of the three of them, Yami was always the one who didn't feel complete distaste towards Bakura's little obsession. And he hardly worried about him doing anything stupid if he could get his hands on damaged flesh, because despite how strained their relationship sometimes appeared to onlookers, it was far from true that they would hurt each other at any rate and in all actuality, Yami was really the closest to him when it came to knowing one another; they liked picking at each other's weaknesses and knocking each other down occasionally, messing around and being stupid, but whereas Bakura and Malik connected on a superficial level, brought together by the need for entertainment and wild amusement, the silver-haired teen was more like Yami than either of them cared to admit. Oppositions put aside, they had a lot more common ground to stand on than they did with Seto or Malik, despite the fact that it commonly fell in pairs of Yami and Seto and Bakura and Malik when it came to family disputes or massive arguments.

Bakura nearly jumped out of his skin when Yami moved his braced hand over to him, and for a second he hesitated touching him because he didn't know how much pressure he could put on it or even if he should reach out at all, but then his body reacted as it normally did when presented with something, seeking his hand and looking it over as he rotated his wrist slowly.

"How bad does it hurt?" He questioned, tapping a nail over the soft flesh above his pulse point, testing only to see that Yami merely twitched a finger in response, almost as if his body were laughing without the actual noise.

"It's not my skin that hurts. It's my wrist itself," he stated calmly and Bakura let his eyes flicker towards his face, a little unnerved by the fact that Yami was looking away from him and out the door in the hallway as if he weren't there, holding his hand, touching and testing. Sometimes Yami's trust in him made his flesh crawl because while they were all close, Malik or Seto would be watching him like a hawk right about now. "When I sleep on it or move it a certain way."

"That sucks," he snickered. "You sleep on your right side."

If it had been anyone else, Yami would have stared at them as if they had grown three extra heads, but considering it was Bakura, it was normal to hear such a random observation. He was known for studying and taking notes, habitual things rather than superficial. It was no secret that he liked to do so, that he liked to point things out when they got inconsistent or messed up.

Yami had the same habit, though he hardly showed it and it was more ingrained rather than expressed; he liked taking note of things but he didn't normally care enough to keep them on the mind and most of the time they would gain his focus again later when he least expected it.

Seto did the same thing as he did. He took notes without really caring for them but it helped to make him that much better of a CEO, mental lists that he didn't want but always had with a single glance.

Malik, on the other hand, was more tactile, liked to _cause _something that was _worth _studying, such as someone's reaction to a prank or—on more than one occasion—his display of a stunt such as skateboarding while hanging on the back of a truck his friend drove. He had to have excitement to bother with taking notes or else he grew bored and could not stomach it for more than a minute at a time; at school he and Bakura would have to be around each other, speaking in low voices or flicking paper or lead at each other continuously to keep themselves amused.

"Yeah."

Bakura looked his wrist over, tilting his hand back and staring at his palm momentarily before letting his eyes flicker to the line of veins in his arm; Yami's skin was harsh with a red tint due to the way he had slept on it and the way that the brace had folded into his skin and left an indent.

"It only hurts when I move it a certain way if I don't end up sleeping on it," he supplied, finally turning away from some of the nurses who were running around at the station and letting his eyes flicker over to his cousin who was still studying his hand, dark brown eyes glinting beneath the fluorescents, an artificial show of emotion that didn't exist. He was excited, yes, but not to the point that his eyes were continuously shining with it.

"How badly?"

"I've had far worse," he stated simply, shrugging; he had. The feeling of his bones being on fire beneath his skin was hardly even a speck of what he'd been exposed to over the years. So, honestly, it hardly bothered him. But he was acutely aware of which way he could bend his wrist and which way he couldn't if he didn't want to experience that sensation all over again.

Bakura wanted to move his wrist to see which way made it hurt but he could never find it in himself to hurt his cousin, to cause him pain intentionally. So instead, despite his curiosity being far from sated, his need for study easily still overwhelming, Bakura moved his hands to take Yami's more fully into his grip, making the red eyes flicker over and regard him curiously before widening when he pressed the tips of his fingers into his pulse point and the blood jumped a little in his veins.

"You wanted to talk…"

"Yeah," he admitted, smirking widely when he saw that Yami had grown a little unnerved and extremely distressed by the idea, but his heart wasn't pounding which told him that he was trying to prevent the nurses from coming into the room by steadying his pulse some. "And I can't have you lying your ass off over here."

"Just so you know, the medication they've been giving me makes my heartbeat fluctuate," he commented quietly, clearing his throat slightly, frowning a little as he studied brown eyes that grew smug with his statement.

"Sure." He tapped his fingers against his wrist's pulse again. "I'll just see it in your eyes anyways."

Yami almost said that he wouldn't be able to tell if he was lying or not because his pulse was not reliable and he could easily hide his emotions, but that was exactly what Bakura would be looking for. It would be a sure sign that he was lying and even if he put his shield up to keep Bakura's prying mind out, it would only succeed to tire him out because his silver-haired cousin seemed to just _know _these kinds of things. He just knew when someone wasn't truthful and he was smart enough to see past Yami's wall if he got the chance. All putting it up would do was leave Yami exhausted mentally and physically.

"What…are we going to be talking about?"

Bakura didn't answer immediately and when he did, Yami's skin crawled with the response, feeling sick to his stomach. "Yugi."

"Why?"

He looked ready to leer at him but stopped abruptly, instead watching him closely and tilting his head, staring pointedly before tapping his nails against his wrist, not to unnerve him but solely to gather some patience. "Because I'm not stupid, Yami," he snapped, voice somewhat cold but somehow simple and emotionless at the same time.

"I never said you were."

"Good, because you know better," Bakura stated, smirking slightly before watching his face pointedly. "So, you're in love with him."

Yami recoiled like he'd burned him, but, somehow, for one reason or another, his hand never jerked from his cousin's; the sensation was unnerving for the silver-haired teen but at the same time it was somehow empowering.

"I—I—I—"

"Am stuttering," he snickered, amused out of his mind.

The red eyes flashed with indignation and his mouth no longer moved for a moment, his voice dead before finally he managed to speak again, the word caught in his throat strained and startled as well as terrified. "Bakura…"

"Hey, you know I'm not judging," he said simply, raising an eyebrow when Yami looked like he wanted to jump out of the bed and run; yes, the red-eyed teen knew that but it made it no easier to even _think _the phrase that he had spoken. "Come on, Yami, talk to me because you know Seto isn't going to be happy about this and Malik…well…"

He trailed off laughing and Yami knew exactly what he meant, that Malik could give less of a shit about it as long as he got to poke fun at them in the meantime and Yami didn't get hurt. And pain, as far as Malik was concerned, only qualified if you could see it on your flesh.

Bakura stopped laughing a full minute later but the amusement was cruel in its wide abundance, gleaming in those dark coffee brown eyes. "So, come on, spill it. This is the only chance you've got to talk about it anyways. You know I don't extend offers for more than a limited amount of time."

"I…I can't…"

"Yami—"

"No, Bakura, I _can't_!" he breathed out, eyes drowning with pain and fear and leaving his cousin staring for a long moment before nodding, sighing and releasing his wrist. "I'm sorry…"

"You're apologizing to _me?_" he asked, incredulously, almost wanting to sneer at the irony but fighting it off in order to shake his head. "You're a fucking mess."

He turned away because he couldn't face him anymore, instead drawing his hand in to rest it over his stomach, chewing his cheek hard and filling his mouth with blood.

Bakura could have been cruel and said that he had a month before that offer expired as his first thought was, but that sadism didn't exist in him at the moment, not when he could see that Yami was struggling to keep from trembling as it was.

"I'll listen when you want to talk."

Yami's head snapped around to stare at him with shocked eyes but Bakura had already walked out of the room, disappearing down the hallway before he could even think straight.

* * *

He was high when the man in the suit and tie walked in.

It was kind of funny because he had never really been high before. Especially not off of simple opium, but yep, he was high.

And he thought the little splash on that tie looked like a rubber duck with the Grinch's head. Which was why he laughed ten minutes straight after he entered the room.

The doctors were confused and concerned but his monitors read he was okay so they didn't bother with it after that though a nurse was kept nearby at all times in case something happened.

"Sennen, Atem."

Several people looked over at the mention of his name and Yami wrinkled his nose at him before hissing, "Why are you so loud?" before laughing again. "Or maybe I'm just quiet."

The man in the suit looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Sennen, Atem."

Oh yes, now people were really staring into the room at them.

Yami gave them angry looks before turning back, narrowing his eyes as he fought off the haze that made his stomach crawl slightly. "What?" he muttered, but it came out as a bark of a word and he couldn't understand why.

"You are Sennen, Atem, right?"

"I…go by Yami…most of the time…" He blinked and scrunched his face up before looking at the splatter on his suit and snickering again. "Grinch-ducky."

"What?"

He waved a hand dismissively and the man merely stared. "All right…so…Yami, do you know why I am here?"

He stared at him like he was bat-shit crazy for a moment and then slowly nodded. "Seto…said something about you…coming by at some point." He pursed his lips. "Something…about a lawsuit?"

"Yes. Did he explain what the lawsuit was about?"

Yami thought for a long time, really searched and sought through it all before very slowly shaking his head. "Nope."

The man in the suit sighed and leaned forward. "I am here to discuss with you the lawsuit against your parents. For domestic abuse in which your father was the one who put you in the hospital."

Yami blinked once, long and slow, and then tilted his head before trying to think it over. "I don't remember. What was the question?"

"There was no question."

"I like your Grinch-ducky. He's very cute."

And then he was staring at him like he was a lunatic. "Um…thank you…?"

"You know what else is cute? Puppies. Puppies are cute. I always wanted a puppy. But my father always said no because I was never a good boy. So I was never allowed to have a puppy—do you have a puppy?"

He was talking a million words a second and the man couldn't understand for the life of him. "No?" he questioned, sounding utterly confused.

"Oh, well that sucks. Are you a cat person? I don't know if I like cats. They have those sharp nail-talon-claw things. Did you know that if they get in a fight, they could tear each other's stomachs open with them? They're like swords. Someone should just get a massive thing of cat claws and use them to kill everyone else. I think that would make the perfect comic book character…or serial killer. I don't like cereal killers. They kill cereal."

Something about that statement was wrong, even to the doped up boy on the bed who furrowed his brows in confusion after a moment and then thought it over with his eyes narrowed and his nose wrinkling.

"Wait…that didn't make sense. Like…at all."

"Um, ahem, Mr. Sennen—may I call you Atem?"

"What? No. I'm Yami. Ya-mi. Like yummy but with an 'aw' sound. Yami. _Yami_. Ya-mi." He paused. "It's Japanese. Did you know that?"

The man let out a small sigh and rolled his eyes up towards the ceiling; why?

"Well, we are in Japan, Mr. Sennen."

"Oh yeah…you know, I'll never understand how my first name is Egyptian and my last name is Japanese. Does that make any sense to you? No? I didn't think so." He paused again. "I'm kind of hungry. And tired. But I don't want to eat and I don't want to sleep either. What do you do when you get like this?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed the corners of his eyes before shaking his head. Again. _Why_? "I need you to focus for a minute. Can you do that?"

"A minute exactly? As in sixty seconds?"

"Maybe a little longer, but yes."

Yami narrowed his eyes into slits and then stuck his tongue out the left corner of his mouth and curved it upwards, giving a vigorous nod.

"Okay, so here is what I need to know. Was your father there the day that you were thrown down the stairs?"

Thrown? He thought he was pushed…

Hmm…

He thought it over for a long time, sought through his mind for some kind of trigger but all he could hear in his drug-induced haze was his own voice, desperate and broken and fragmented in ways that made no sense.

"I don't know. I can't remember. I have a concussion."

"Yes, so I heard."

He was sighing and Yami felt irritated with that, glaring slightly.

"How does your head feel, by the way?"

"Light."

He snorted and smirked slightly. "Has your father ever hurt you?"

Yami thought about it for a long time, because it took a while to get through the haze in his mind, and then very slowly nodded a couple of times, one slow and the other more vigorous.

"How would you describe it?"

Yami could not think of the technical term and so instead looked around for a moment before finding his pillow behind his head and bringing it over his face in an overly dramatic show of smothering, giggling when he pulled it away and said, "Ta da!"

"He smothered you?"

Was that the word for it?

"No." He paused, because he was thinking out loud instead of in his head, something he would never do if he were sober. "Punished. He _punished_—no, no, not punished. _Disciplined_. He _disciplined _me."

The man watched the sixteen-year-old nod vigorously.

"Disciplined. He only did it when I was bad."

"What kind of things did he do when you were…bad?"

Yami took a long time again, counted on his fingers, and then lost track of the question, humming and grabbing his pillow before playing with it instead; the man stared at him for a long minute before realizing what had just happened.

"Mr. Sennen?"

He stopped short of playing with the inanimate object to turn his head and give him an owlish look, blinking before tilting his head and murmuring, "When did you get here?"

And that was the final straw. He got up and left the room while Yami watched him go and called, "Bye-bye now."

* * *

"You were doped up."

Yami looked at the phone for a long moment. "Hmm? What kind of greeting is that, Seto?" he complained. "Not even a hello. Just 'you were doped up'. If this is something that you want to make a greeting between us, I have to say I don't like it."

The brunet sighed on the other end. "And now you're fucking lucid."

"I am," he agreed, grabbing the phone's cord and twisting it around his finger because he was bored. "But you wouldn't have called otherwise, right?"

"The lawyer came in earlier. Do you remember that happening?"

Yami thought it over for a moment. "I remember he had a stain on his tie that looked like a rubber ducky with the Grinch's head. That's really the most I remember."

Seto snickered and then turned back to his businessman demeanor. "Yami, do you remember the subject of your conversation?"

"Considering I was high, I do not believe I do, Seto. But please, remind me anyways."

"The lawsuit—"

"Wait, who are you suing now?"

There was a loud sigh. "Fuck, I forgot I didn't tell you yet."

"Tell me what?" Yami demanded before his eyes grew wide. "Oh no, you can't, Seto, that's not—"

"It's called abuse and your dad can't just show up out of nowhere and just fucking do that," the brunet snapped at him. "You were officially emancipated before that happened and he had no right to show up like he did. You're sixteen and you're emancipated—how did he even get a key?"

"You do realize that the house is technically _his_, right, cousin? Because honestly, I was not the least bit surprised that he had a spare key just so that he could pop in at random intervals if he wanted to."

"Makes you wonder what else is in there."

"Cameras."

"Excuse me?"

"I said cameras. There are cameras in there."

"What the—Yami, why didn't you mention this before?"

"It never crossed my mind. Besides, I got rid of them." Now he just probably had to get rid of the new batch that his father had most likely planted in the house while he was unconscious.

Seto sighed again. "Goddamn it."

"Look, it's fine. They're gone. It doesn't matter. The point is that you didn't _tell _me you were going to get a lawsuit filed against them for child abuse."

"Yeah, I didn't think I would have to after you were emancipated. Just goes to show that we can't all think of everything."

Yami leaned back against the pillow again. "No, I don't remember anything about meeting him but his tie. I liked his Grinch-ducky."

Seto snorted and snickered. "Dear god, only you."

He let out a small chuckle. "It _was_. It was a Grinch-ducky."

"I think I need to reconsider my favorite cousin."

"Hey, bitch, you can't just throw me out of rank like that. I will _fight _for that spot."

Both of them laughed softly.

"Did I make a lasting impression?"

"Oh yes. He thought your acting skills were beautiful, Yami."

"Acting skills? Oh fuck, what did I do?"

"Apparently you grabbed your pillow and pretended to smother yourself and then said 'ta da' at the end."

"Shit, what was the question?"

"What your dad has done to you."

"Oh…"

"I never knew he smothered you."

"He killed Bean. Of course he would smother me."

Seto was silent for a long time. "He did that for some reason so small I don't even remember it."

Yami sighed. "It doesn't matter. It's over and done with."

"Yami, if you think you're going to defend your parents, I'll go over your head."

"That was the whole point of this call, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

"I make no plans to protect them. I hope you bury them." And then he hung up.

* * *

The medication they put him on brought him violently vibrant dreams on both ends of the spectrum. On one hand, he could fall asleep to find Yugi waiting for him with a wide smirk on his face and bright blue-violet eyes, voice lowered drastically to purr sultrily while Yami melted into him until there were no boundaries between them, their limbs tied and their bodies moving as if they couldn't live without feeling the other against them, in them, around them. On the other side of the spectrum, he was hit with both memories that he had suppressed for years and ones that he had pushed away to his subconscious in order to keep from drowning in the pain of them.

There was the basement with Bakura, in which he had lost his mind as quickly as he had realized the door was locked and the lights were out; he could hear himself snarling and his fingers would grasp at his cousin for a second in order to slash at him with his nails. Occasionally the albino's blood would spray across his face but other times he would smack him back and Yami would find himself once again clawing at the door.

Sometimes his aunt opened the door and he stumbled out and other times his parents who would stare at him in shock, at the way he had destroyed his nails and blood was welling from his fingers violently like fountains of red. Occasionally he found himself getting dragged by the back of his head by his father while his mother watched and turned a blind eye towards the punishments for his "wasting time".

Other times he ended up being picked up by his mom who would take him back to his room and lay him on the bed while asking how he ended up down there. Sometimes the basement morphed into the pantry and a panic would set in that left him breathing hard and scratching at the door until the shards of wood tore his fingers open but the door always refused to open as he needed it and so he would be stuck like that. It would feel like hours before finally he would think to pick the lock, to utilize some kind mental preparation that he had ignored for years.

Occasionally he woke in the middle of one of these panic attacks to the nurses all trying to lower his rapidly rising blood pressure or check on him, but other times he woke to voices that made his heart beat too fast because he was sure they were his parents but turned out to be Seto or Bakura or Malik leaning over him trying to wake him.

Once or twice he thought he saw Yugi, waking in a delusional state with the smaller teen leaning over him and pushing at his shoulders to wake him, the movements rough and shaky, only to be brought to attention by his doctor or even Mai, Mahado or Mana who would ask if he was okay until he felt like he was reliving the same moment every five seconds of his life.

He would have to reassure them that it was not a fight with Yugi that had placed him in the hospital because despite his wildcard nature, Yugi wasn't going to harm him; he might have beaten the shit out of Imori when he wouldn't leave him alone or Alister when he kept throwing a volleyball into the back of his head during gym when he was supposed to be serving the ball, but he would not harm him. He would have to remind them that he wasn't talking to Yugi at the time it happened; of course he never mentioned why he had been unable to face him, but he had been adamant in his refusal to have the blame placed on the smaller teen. He would have to pretend that they believed him because it was pretty obvious by the looks on those three's faces that they did not. And he would have to pretend that he wasn't afraid of the moment they left the room.

And he would be forced to pretend that he made his voice even and calm enough, easy and level enough that they believed him when he told Mai it wasn't his father or he told Mahado that he was okay or he spoke to Mana about how he was doing.

Most of the time he was honestly too afraid to close his eyes but others he was ready to drown in the fear or melt into Yugi, to fall into that world where he knew a million different things could happen and he was under the will of his drugged mind.

It wasn't until the last night that he was given a dream of actual use.

* * *

"This is starting to piss me off," Bakura hissed at him, thrusting the papers into his hands while Yami looked them over and groaned, Malik snickering in amusement while Seto rolled his eyes and Mokuba looked at Yami's monitors.

"Yeah, well, it's your last day playing errand boy anyways," he replied, smirking slightly.

"So you'll be at school tomorrow?"

All of them spun around at the new voice, all five cousins wide-eyed before Seto's narrowed, Yami's blinked and became normal in size again, Malik snorted and turned away, Mokuba looked at Yami and then the newcomer and back again, and Bakura looked annoyed out of his mind.

"What the hell are you doing here?" the silver-haired teen sniped.

Yami groaned and covered his face with his hand, shaking his head while Malik snickered and Seto gave a small smirk, turning away again.

"Hey, don't go around embarrassing our little cousin's friends," Malik cooed, reaching over and pinching Yami's cheek, making him growl and swat his hand away, the two psychos laughing their asses off.

"You know, your mom warned me about this, Malik," he stated, crossing his arms and tilting his head when the purple-eyed teen raised an eyebrow. "She said that one day your girl genes would kick in. I thought it would be further down the road, but still, better late than never, right?"

"Girl genes?" the blond echoed, blinking in confusion.

"Oh, that's right. You didn't know. Sorry to burst your little bubble, cousin, but you were born a girl," he said, giving a dead serious look with a tilt of his head, eyes sympathetic as he blinked them once. "Your mother warned me that you might be a jealous little blonde when you grew up. I guess she was right. Considering you're getting all green-eyed about me having another person in the room that isn't family."

Bakura threw his head back laughing while Seto snickered and Mokuba covered his mouth, eyes wide as he watched them, Malik gawking while Yami winked and then turned back to Tristan.

"Son of a…"

"Don't insult your mother even more," Yami quipped.

Bakura fell over, laughing like a hyena at the blond's stunned expression in which a small bit of red was appearing beneath his caramel-toned skin. Mokuba turned to his brother and pulled on his coat so that he leaned over, whispering just loud enough for the others to hear.

"Is he really a girl?"

Yami burst out laughing and Malik gawked at his youngest cousin, glaring while Bakura was wheezing and rolling on the floor, Seto chuckling and shaking his head. Tristan shook his head, laughing quietly.

"Yes," Bakura barked out. "He's totally a girl!"

"That's why his hair looks like that. He likes to fluff it with the blow dryer," Yami added. "Got to have enough volume."

"You guys are going to ruin him," Seto snickered.

"He should know the truth," the red-eyed teen said with a shrug and a smirk thrown over his shoulder. "So that if he ever needs his hair done he knows who to go to."

"Hey!" Malik cried out, annoyed as the other four dissolved into laughter again. "Fucking assholes."

"Now, now, that's not the language for such a _pretty _girl," Yami chided, moving out of the way quickly when the blond made a swipe for him, glaring behind a gleam of laughter that made his purple eyes dance. Yami knew eventually Malik would get him back but it was too fun to let it die just like that.

"Mr. Sennen?"

All five of their heads snapped towards the nurse, startled but relieved when she simply handed him a clipboard with his release forms, the red-eyed teen signing happily and turning to his brunet cousin.

"Can you get me a soda? _Please_?"

Seto opened his mouth to refuse outright but then the other three crowed, "Fuck yeah! Sodas!" and left him groaning in annoyance before belatedly realizing his brother had just cheered with them, shooting him a sharp look that had Mokuba looking around with feigned innocence.

"Please?" Yami tried again.

The brunet was silent for a moment but then sighed and rolled his eyes, nodding. "Yeah, all right. Sprite?"

"Please."

Blue eyes rolled again as Bakura and Malik shot past Tristan and out the door, both of them leaving the Kaiba brothers and Yami in the dust, the red-eyed teen watching them with a raised eyebrow. He wasn't the least bit surprised by their behavior but his entire family constantly said he was the younger one of the trio and he was honestly starting to wonder about that. Surely it counted if he was more mature mentally, right?

Hmm…

His eyes flickered and settled on Tristan's.

"What are you doing here?"

The brunet blinked once, obviously unnerved by the sharp gleam of predatory interest that entered his eyes, his natural defense mechanism that usually left people a little too scared to truly mess with him. Natural intimidation had saved him from a lot of fights when it came down to it.

"I heard you were in the hospital and I figured I would come and see how you were."

Yami narrowed his eyes so that the lashes cast shadows that made his pupils dilate and eat away at the red of his irises. "Really? And why is that?"

He shrugged. "Look, personally, I don't have anything against you. Joey and Ushio might but I don't. If I did, do you really think I would have told you it was Tea and Joey who sent the picture around?"

"You don't know me. I don't know what you think you're trying to accomplish here but—"

"Dude, calm down first of all. I'm not trying to do anything. Geez, I just wanted to see if you were okay."

Yami was quiet for a moment. "Why?"

"Because I just…I don't have anything against you and as long as I've known you, you've actually been pretty cool. I don't care about you and Yugi hooking up"—he had a second where he started to backtrack when the anger and resentment mixed with a fog of pain hit his eyes but it was gone in a blink and he had no idea if he had simply imagined it—"although if you were gay, you should have gone for someone else considering you guys' social status."

"Social status," Yami breathed out, blinking once and then chuckling softly with a shake of his head, smirking before sighing quietly, the light in his eyes cruel and sardonic. "Isn't that a joke? By all standards, he should be the one being dragged through the mud for this shit, not me."

"Huh?" Tristan asked, confused by the statement.

Yami waved a hand dismissively. "Nothing. Forget I fucking said anything." He rubbed at his temple when it laced with pain for a split second. "Musing out loud, I suppose. Stupid stuff."

The brunet raised an eyebrow, blinking several times and then nodded slightly with a small smirk on his face. "Anyways, you guys really screwed up as far as picking out fuck buddies goes."

The red-eyed teen let out a huff. "Didn't we?" he agreed spitefully, making Tristan stare with a confused look, visibly startled by the venom in his words. "Anyways, to answer your question from earlier, yes. I am going to be back in school tomorrow."

"That's cool."

"_Cool_? The place is a fucking hellhole and I don't even know why the fuck I _bother _going there. I should never have even done it the first year. I should have done online schooling instead."

"What? You're required to go to school."

"Wrong. I am merely required to _learn_. There is no law that requires my body physically present inside of a school. That is why parents get away with home schooling their kids." He paused after a moment, realizing that Tristan didn't deserve the anger that he was displaying, clearing his throat slightly. "Sorry. I'm just not having that great of a day. It has nothing to do with you being here."

The brunet simply nodded, not the least bit disturbed by this. "Sure."

Yami watched him for a moment and then tilted his head slightly. "Were you even surprised?" he finally muttered.

"Not really," he admitted, shaking his head slightly. "Yugi started looking at Tea differently and he wasn't exactly the most subtle when he was staring at you before. I mean, I know I teased him a little, but it was mostly to just make him notice what he was doing. He sometimes acts without really thinking about what he's doing…Besides, there was just something about the way the two of you acted around each other, even when he was pissed off at you. For as long as I've known him, no one has ever managed to rattle his cage like you did when you…finger-fucked Tea. And the day that they made fun of Yugi for letting you do the whole project, you looked like you wanted to snap. I saw your face when you looked over at our table. You looked like you were checking on Yugi and you got pissed off when you saw that none of us were going to do anything."

"Why didn't you?"

"Yugi can fight his own battles," the brunet said easily, smiling slightly with a shake of his head. "Joey underestimates him and Ushio thinks he could take him on because he's so small, but I know that Yugi could kick ass if he needed to. Besides that, he didn't look too inclined to do anything either. He looked pissed, yeah, but not enough to actually pull a stunt to embarrass her for trying to embarrass him."

Yami nodded slowly.

"Besides that, I'm willing to bet twenty bucks that he took his frustrations out on you." Tristan smirked when Yami's eyes widened slightly, surprised at the statement. "Don't look so surprised. He does it a lot."

He flinched. "He's done that before?"

The brunet stared at him for a moment and then snorted and held his hands up. "Oh, no, I didn't mean it like _that_," he amended quickly. "I meant that he will dig his teeth into the nearest person when he gets mad. Doesn't matter if they had anything to do with it or not, he's not the most levelheaded one when it comes to that kind of thing."

Yami glowered. "He's a fucking asshole," he spat, baring his teeth. "I don't even fucking understand why I thought any of it was okay in the first place."

Tristan shook his head. "Believe it or not, life isn't about what's okay, Yami. And it doesn't have to make sense to anyone else but you and Yugi."

"But it _doesn't _make sense to me!" he snapped, scowling. "Nothing makes sense to me anymore."

The brunet shrugged slightly. "I always heard that confusion helped with making decisions in life," he said lightly, snickering when Yami blinked once and furrowed his brows, tilting his head in question at the statement. "The point is, it's better to mess up now and know later what you shouldn't do than find out later what you should have done."

Yami stayed quiet for a moment and then stared. "I don't even know what I'm doing anymore," he admitted quietly.

"Yugi has that effect on you," Tristan snickered, knowing Yami understood the statement without more words by the way he clenched his jaw. But his eyes were questioning, dark and dangerous in their desire for the answer that he sought, the words lying lifelessly on his tongue, not about to asked, so Tristan gave it to him without prompt. "I'm observant."

For a moment neither of them spoke and then the red-eyed teen looked at him slowly, drawing him to memory in his mind. "Why do you hang out with Joey if you don't even believe in half the crap that he does?"

"We've been best friends for years, and we're as close as brothers without the shared blood, Yami. You don't just give up on someone that means so much to you because of something so simple as a disagreement."

He opened his mouth to object, to say that Yugi had given up on him, so why shouldn't he have the right to do the same, but then stopped short and instead stared blankly for a long horribly drawn out minute and a half.

"He makes me feel disgusting."

Tristan couldn't help it when he burst out laughing. "You let him do it."

"I don't know how to make it stop."

"Maybe it's not meant to."

Yami wanted to ask why something so vicious and disgusting and stupid and disturbing could possibly not be meant to go away, but instead ended up staring in response, puzzled and frustrated, feeling sick to his stomach.

If it wasn't meant to be stopped, what would become of him?

He couldn't stand being a hollow shell…not again, not after having been that way for fourteen years. If he had to go back to playing the puppet while others pulled his strings, making him dance to a tune he didn't want, he swore that he might just end up killing himself in the meantime, if he didn't die beforehand.

* * *

"Your boyfriend is back."

How many times had he heard that in just the last hour? He rolled his eyes. It made no sense. Yami was still in the hospital. He was being kept to make sure he was healing properly and all that crap. It was that fucking simple.

So why the fuck were they all jumping at the chance to sneer that at him if it didn't even make any fucking sense?

Yugi grabbed his tray and ignored the girl who started to talk but when one of them started whispering, he jumped onto the table, and he wasn't sure _why _he did it, but he was suddenly shouting, "Tea Gardner has emotional instability because she was born a guy!" so loudly that everyone in the entire cafeteria gawked and then looked at her; a few moved away while she started trying to tell them that she wasn't. "Joey Wheeler has an animal fetish, ladies, so if you have a little lap dog, you might want to keep him away from it or you're going to end up being a third wheel on your own fucking dates!" And the best was, of course, Ushio. "Ushio has a micro-penis the size of my pinkie!"

There was laughter, there were glares, and then Yugi was smirking at them and winking before walking off while others laughed harder at the three victims of Yugi's extremely mild wrath.

And the only reason he didn't mess with Tristan? Because he hadn't messed with Yugi.

Tea had sneered at him constantly, Joey always made jokes about Yugi being Yami's bitch, and Ushio even said that he would make Yugi his bitch when he wanted to.

When. Not if. When. As if he had _plans_ to do it.

Yugi narrowed his eyes. That would never happen. He knew that much.

He'd take Ushio's eyes out before he let that happen.

The bell rang and he, along with the rest of the sheep in the pin, wandered off to his next class.

Yugi had made himself into a bad boy for a reason. It was simple, really.

While he still had his basic kindness, his heart which abhorred violence, he turned himself into the bad boy.

To make himself unlovable.

His parents walked out on him when he was young. His grandfather was never around. His friends—ha, _what _friends?—kept him around because he was smart. His bullies did nothing but reinforce the idea that he was not meant to be loved, that it would never happen, and he had been okay with that. He had been happy with it. He made himself even more unlovable to make himself feel better.

Bullies couldn't get past the wall he built so their taunts did nothing to him but bore him.

Those people he thought were his "friends" were kept at arm's length so that he wouldn't have to deal with it when they left.

And he didn't miss them at all. Well, aside from Tristan, a little, because he was okay out of the four of them.

But his crush on Tea? He was starting to think it was just sexual frustration, pent up and taking form in some kind of strange infatuation with the brunette because he honestly couldn't understand what he ever saw in her.

Yes, she was pretty, with those wide azure eyes and that heart-shaped face, but she was so plain and nasty in personality and he didn't understand _why _he would _ever _have felt anything for her in the first place.

He leaned back in his seat and spun his pencil around in his fingers until class ended, not bothering with notes or doing the lecture, even flat out ignoring the teacher as she called his name.

He was in the bathroom when he walked in.

"Yami is out of the hospital."

Yugi looked up at him through the reflection in the mirror and then slowly turned his head to regard him. "So?"

"I thought you might want to know."

"How do you know anyways?"

"I went to check on him."

Yugi twisted his entire body around and stared. "W-what? Why would you do that?"

"Well, he's not my best friend, but I did feel bad for the kid. I mean…he's never exactly done anything to me so whatever. Besides, I just wanted to make sure he was okay."

"He doesn't need pity, Tristan."

"I never said he did, Yugi," the brunet said quietly, shaking his head. "I just meant that…never mind."

He wanted his answer but he didn't have the energy to ask for it.

"Anyways, he's out and he's here."

Yugi nearly choked. "What?"

"He's at school today. He came in after lunch but he was with the guidance counselor for a couple hours before that because the teachers wanted to make sure he could still write and stuff in class."

The good thing about Tristan? He had a free period after lunch and spent it in the office with the principal and guidance counselors and he got to listen in on some stuff while he delivered slips to students who were going home early or whatever.

"So then…he's back but why are you telling me this exactly…?"

"He'll be in your eighth period today instead of his."

Yugi swallowed hard. "Why?"

"Because his teacher wants to be able to teach his class as fast as possible without Yami slowing them down."

"That's fucked up."

"Eh, that's life."

Yugi nodded once. "Thanks Tristan."

He nodded back and gave him a small weak smile before turning and walking out again; the smallest teen in the school leaned back against the sink and narrowed his eyes. So Yami actually _was _back.

After hearing all the shit and not seeing him, he had thought they were all fucking around to see if they could get a reaction out of him. But he was really back…

At eighth period Yami did come to the classroom, did hand the teacher a slip and was told to sit down in the vacant seat…right between him and Ushio. How lovely a seating arrangement. Yami ignored them both pointedly but even Yugi knew he was losing patience when Ushio started flicking pieces of lead at him. It was halfway through the class when Yami turned and snapped, "Do it one more time, you little fucker, and I'm going to break your fingers, tear them off and then feed them to you" in a dangerous voice that made all of the surrounding students turn towards him with wide eyes.

"What? Pay attention, morons," he spat, turning back to the board where the teacher was looking at them in confusion.

Ushio scoffed and then laughed out loud while Yami drummed a single fingernail against the desk, going back to ignoring him even after he started flicking lead at his cheek again; it was after class that things blew up.

Ushio actually grabbed him. Yugi struggled to get out of his grip because he was mentally and physically drained from being so close to Yami, but his attempts to escape did nothing but make the massive boy laugh as he led him to the bathroom, scaring out the other guys and pushing him facedown against the ground.

And it wasn't even a _sanitary _bathroom. He could see spilled water from the sinks not even two centimeters from his face and his skin crawled with the desperation to get away but he didn't think he had the energy.

Yugi struggled but there was not much he could do. He was too tired. Fuck, he was too tired to even care about Ushio about to rape him even as his pants and boxers were pulled down and his ass was exposed.

He was too tired, that is, until Ushio went flying straight over him and into the other wall with a massive thudding noise and a groan that seemed to make the floor vibrate against his left cheek. Yugi pushed himself up to his hands and knees, glancing over his shoulder and going bug-eyed when he saw who it was; Yami didn't look at him, shaking out his braced wrist and frowning a little before snarling, "I swear, Ushio, if my hand doesn't heal right, I'm taking one of yours."

Ushio got to his feet and started towards him. "Came to protect your little boyfriend?"

"Actually, I thought I told you what I came for in class, Ushio." He walked around Yugi and stopped a couple of feet away from the taller boy. "I don't make idle threats. I said I would break your fingers and I will. But maybe I'll do worse than that."

Yugi got out of his stupor long enough to pull his pants up and move out of the way when Ushio charged him; Yami fell on his back but, unlike Yugi expected, he rolled and kicked the taller boy straight into the other wall before kicking off and landing on his feet, looking at his wrist again before turning back.

"Get up. Get the fuck up so I can beat your fucking face in."

"Whoa, what the fuck is—Yami, stop!"

Yami looked over at both of them with wide eyes and Yugi swore he saw his eyes turn a little brighter, his irises seeming to have been shadowed with some kind of blackish-gray tint the second before they spoke; his memory bit at his focus for a moment and his skin crawled as he realized he recognized that darker shade from when he had gone through Yami's phone. "What the hell are you guys…?" he muttered, trailing off and looking at Ushio again.

"We came to see if you were ready to go and then we walked in on this shit," Bakura answered, raising an eyebrow. "Oh look, someone mistook his size for being weak again."

"Damn shame," Malik snickered before glancing at Yugi. "Oh, hey, there's the shrimp."

Bakura stopped short of going to mess with Ushio to look over and stare. "Huh."

Yami shook his hand out a second before punching and Ushio stumbled but didn't fall and lashed out only to get thin air when the small teen moved out of the way and started backing up.

"You know, I should thank you for what you did. I mean, finding Yami," Bakura murmured just as he grabbed Ushio by the back of his shirt and tugged him off his feet with a lazy flick of his wrist. "But I think we'll save that for another time, don't you?"

Malik started laughing when he wrapped his arm around Yugi's shoulders; Yugi froze in surprise and stared at him with wide eyes, but the blond merely directed him back to the hallway with a simple "Don't get lost now. Go on home. We have some things to talk to Ushio about before we leave."

Yugi stared at him and opened his mouth only to have him bark, "Get the fuck out of here" to which he backed up steadily, still facing him, and then took off running.

* * *

Ushio was not at school for the next three days and when he did return he was walking with a limp and he had cuts and bruises all over his face as well as a broken left hand; Bakura and Malik gave him little waves and winks and blew him raspberries that sent him scurrying while Yami nudged them and told them to stop, smirking the entire time. Yugi had to admit he was confused by it all, but whatever. It was okay.

At least he had retained whatever virtue he still had left.

And then he nearly cackled at the thought. That was hilarious.

Unlike usual, however, instead of sitting with him, Yami sat with his cousins and occasionally the two of them would talk to him and gesture towards him and the red-eyed boy would look at him and then turn away just as fast.

And it was weird because Yugi felt a little out of orbit when Yami was not there. He felt grounded around the red-eyed teen but now he didn't have even that much going for him and it was strange by all means. He felt like someone had taken the ground out from beneath his feet and when he really focused hard enough, there was a pang in his side that both stung and burned but mostly just sent sparks of pain and disgust and dismay through him. But then, if he really focused on it again, it came from a completely different area that he completely refused to acknowledge. No, he would not acknowledge it.

There was no way, because he was unlovable.

Maybe Yami wasn't, but he was.

Besides, all the couples he knew of always ended up dead somewhere along the way. Something burned out. Things never remained the same.

His stomach twisted.

No, he did not care about Yami in that way. He didn't care for anyone in that way.

And why would he? Attachments just meant more pain in the long run.

Pain he didn't need or want.

And just like that, the pain in his side and chest burned and made his stomach twist painfully.

For fuck's sake…

"Why aren't you over there sitting with your boyfriend?" someone sneered at him.

"I am not gay!" he spat angrily. The statement came out a little louder than he expected and every single person in the cafeteria turned their attention to him with wide eyes…well, all except Yami who was staring at the tabletop like it was the most important thing in the world.

It was a quick lay. That was all it was.

Yami was stupid to get attached.

Yugi was smart for keeping his head on straight.

No, Yugi was not about to get caught in some kind of loveless bullshit relationship with someone else. That was stupid.

Yami was so fucking _stupid_.

"And you want to know what you little whore?" he continued loudly, for all of them to hear as no one had moved. "I didn't kiss that nerd and he didn't kiss me, okay? It's fucking photo-shopped and you know why? Because Tea is a goddamned unstable motherfucking _bitch _with no common sense. Because. She. Was. Born. A. Boy."

People were gawking for a moment before he jumped up onto the table again.

"Anyone else want to ask why I don't like her anymore? Because I found that shit out. So get your fucking facts straight before I kick some fucking ass!" he shouted. "Joey is a fucking homophobic idiot and Tea is a dumb boy-turned-girl _twat _with no common sense. The photo was shopped and you all are fucking morons to think that we _ever _did something like that."

Bakura covered his mouth with his hand and laughed.

Malik started snickering.

Yami looked at Yugi with a cold expression.

Yugi gave him a wide smirk. "Photo. Shopped." He popped the "p" so that it echoed across the room. "As in edited pictures. So if you bitch ass fuckers want to fight over something, fight over how stupid you all fucking are for believing it. Oh, and before any of you idiots bring it up, the last couple of weeks? We were doing our fucking project. Not hanging out. So why don't you all fuck off before I stick my foot up your asses?"

He jumped down again and walked out of the cafeteria while others gawked and whispered, some laughing at what he had said about Tea and others glaring at Joey, the homophobe.

But then, that actually was true.


	13. You Have To Go

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Note: Story will be updated every Wednesday**

**Warning: TONS of cursing throughout story**

**Chapter Warning: Chapter is rated M for mentions of masturbation, ****VERY brief mention of suicide by medication, drugging against will, **homosexual slander and underage drinking

**Masturbation Warning: Masturbation is mentioned in the first part of chapter. Semi-graphic but in a joking manner. Nothing serious.**

**Suicide by Medication Warning: DOES NOT HAPPEN. It was just a real quick thought. Split second.**

**Drugging Against Will Warning: NOT for malicious means. Yami needed his medicine. **

**Homosexual Slander Warning: Homosexual slander (use of "fag/faggot") is used in fifth part of chapter.**

**Underage Drinking Warning: Underage drinking is mentioned in final part of chapter.**

Chapter XIII: You Have To Go

"So how long has it been since you jerked off?"

Yami choked and spat out his gummy bear, gawking at the silver-haired teen as they went through the lunch line; several people behind them started laughing and Malik clapped him on the back, snickering. Yugi, standing a little ahead of them, let his eyes flicker in his direction curiously, watching as the red-eyed teen blushed and then looked at his lost gummy bear dejectedly.

"Fuck you, Bakura."

"No, I'm totally being serious," Bakura argued, laughing. "I mean, you were in the hospital for what? A week? You've been out for three days now, so that's like…almost but not really even _close _to two weeks."

Both Yami and Malik started laughing as their brown-eyed cousin backtracked.

"Anyways, that's like a whole week and three days of not jerking off. And your wrist is probably going to take another few weeks to heal—"

Yami clamped his hand over his mouth as he and Malik shook their heads, still laughing softly. "While I very much appreciate the play by play of my jacking off habits, I am not really in the mood to discuss this right now. This a public place, remember?"

Bakura ran his tongue all over Yami's hand and the red-eyed teen looked like he wanted to cry for a moment as he pulled it back and stared at the glistening skin. "Why the fuck should I care that this is a public place? Honestly, Yami, I thought you would know that people talk about this kind of stuff more often than not. I mean, shit, I listened to one guy talking about how he fucked his boyfriend against the flagpole one night."

Yugi actually cried from laughing so hard, drawing the other three's attention and making them stare before he waved them off and wiped at his eyes, grabbing his pizza slice and trying not to draw any more attention.

Joey loved that stupid flagpole. It was his favorite spot in the mornings, something he would lean against while talking to the others as if he had some kind of power over what had been _his _group. And some gay couple had had sex all over it. It was like one of those strange revenge dreams come true. The one where you didn't ask for it but you _had _to be ecstatic because it happened in the first place.

"You have no shame, Bakura. Let's hope your sister doesn't inherit that."

"Bitch please, I'm practicing not cursing and being as…shameless," Bakura argued, rolling his eyes and grabbing a plate with pizza as well.

"Right, by pretending Mokuba doesn't know all of that stuff," he muttered, shaking his head.

"Whoa, wait a second, what the fuck does that mean?" Malik objected.

Yami stopped short, grabbing some French fries and staring at the two as they gave him confused looks. "What? You guys didn't…?" He burst out laughing. "Oh shit, you actually thought—fuck, you guys are clueless. Mokuba heard all about this shit while he was in the hospital. All the nurses would go to his room to gossip. He knows a lot more about sex than you two probably do."

Bakura and Malik opened and closed their mouths while Yami kept laughing and placed the French fries on Bakura's plate.

"What the hell…?"

"You owe me. You made me spit up my favorite gummy bear."

Malik burst out laughing and Bakura huffed. "Fuck. Fine, all right." He rolled his eyes. "Wait, so he _knew _what Malik said about…?" His eyes flickered briefly towards Yugi who felt it but didn't return it, opting instead to grab some spoons even though he was pretty sure he wasn't going to use them. "You and your girl shacking up?"

The smaller look-alike's fingers suddenly stopped working for a moment and his eyes flickered over while Yami laughed, "No shit. Why do you think Seto didn't give a fuck?"

"Wait, Seto—_Kaiba_?" a girl behind them asked, wide-eyed.

All three of them gave her mirroring expressions of disbelief.

"Butt the fuck out and stay in your little corner over there," Bakura snapped at her before turning back. "That makes so much more sense."

"Oh, I bet it does," Yami chuckled, shaking his head.

"So, back to the subject at _hand_"—Yami and Malik both groaned at this—"have you tried using your _left_?"

Yugi choked on his laughter and earned three blank stares while he waved them off again, shaking his head.

"That would probably be difficult though," he continued, contemplating, smirking at his cousin's distressed face. "I mean, wouldn't it be like writing with your left hand or something? Maybe you should just get laid. Or are your ribs still too fucked for that?"

"He's ambidextrous," Malik argued suddenly, smirking when Yami groaned and covered his face with his hands, shaking his head, knowing immediately that this would be where the blond got him back for his teasing in the hospital; he just had to hope that they would eventually tire of the conversation before the end of the day. "So, technically, he could jerk off with both hands if he wanted to."

Bakura gave him a look of pure respect. "Good for you, cousin. Good. For. Fucking. You." And he nodded with each of these words while Yami looked like he wanted to cry and Malik was howling with laughter.

"God fucking—this is why I hate you guys."

Both of them cracked up as they clapped him on the shoulders before giving each other high-fives at the red-eyed boy's expense. Yugi hurriedly paid for his own food before getting out of the way of the three cousins, not wanting to feel that strange stinging ache in his side anymore.

* * *

Yami eyed the bottles of pills for a long moment, looking them over and staring at the descriptions on the side of the bright orange plastic, the labels making his head throb for a split second.

Painkillers for his wrist. Painkillers for his ribs. 50 milligrams of Oxycodone for his wrist. 20 for his ribs. Taken four times a day at intervals of six hours between.

Antidepressants because apparently one of his cousins had opened their mouths about his little jump into the ocean. Remeron, or as he _preferred _to call it, Mirtapazine at 20 milligrams.

Blood pressure medication in case he had a sudden spike. Lasix in 60 milligrams.

Medication to help stabilize his lungs in case he ever had a panic attack or something along those lines; he'd argued for two full hours with Seto when he took him to get them that he didn't need to have it filled because he didn't have asthma or any breathing problems and yet the brunet had forced him to get the pills anyways. Bambec at 20 milligrams every night before he fell asleep.

Yami was starting to feel like his life could be classified as one massive case of medical drugs.

And yet he hadn't touched any of them.

They were just _there_, sitting on his bedside table where he could grab them if he really wanted, where he could pop them all into his mouth if he was stupid enough. But the problem was that he was too smart for his own good so suicide was far from his list of things to do.

Instead they were there as constant reassurances in case he actually needed something.

But he didn't.

Red eyes found themselves glued to the sleeping pills, to a tranquilizer that he knew shouldn't have been prescribed to him in the first place because it was just so tempting to take one and pass out half the time because _fuck him_ if he wanted to be awake all of the time. And from what he had gotten at the hospital that last handful of days, when they had given it to him through his IV drip, it gave him very vivid dreams that were commonly morphed memories.

He stared blankly at it for a moment and then turned away again. He just had to wait a little longer.

Because he knew it would happen sooner or later.

If he hadn't panicked and struggled when they started to take him up to examine his skull, he wouldn't have fallen over the edge of the bars on his bed and he wouldn't have harmed his ribs to the point that their breaks reopened and his wrist ended up hurt that much more due to the way he tried to catch himself.

If he hadn't reopened the fractures on his ribs, hadn't sprained and fractured his wrist further, he would not have been given medication that gave him such strange ideas and dreams and left him so confused upon waking that he couldn't always make everything align right in his mind.

Yami stared at the bottles again, tilting his head slightly before slowly turning away again, ignoring the idea of taking something just for the hell of it, to see if it left him doped up and gave him an artificial high.

He needed to get rid of them. But he'd have to do it in a way that looked natural or else his cousins were going to pounce on him.

He grabbed all of them, unscrewing the lids and reading the sides, knowing that eventually his cousins were going to check to make sure he was taking them and if they found out he wasn't, there would be hell for him to pay. He took six Oxycodone to make up for the four he would have needed the day before, two Mirtazapine, one Lasix and two Bambec and screwed the caps back on, heading into the bathroom to drop them in the toilet and flush them.

Fuck him if he was going to be even more screwed up in the head than he already was.

* * *

Yami was used to solitude when he went home, so to have Bakura tailing him after school was beyond unnerving; dark coffee brown eyes were watching him so closely he wondered if he was under a microscope. The silver-haired teen was only a couple of steps behind him, hands in his pockets, sharp eyes locked on him and Yami struggled not to admit that he had not been taking the pills that he had been prescribed.

His wrist was throbbing from being shoved into the wall earlier that day, stunned when he found that it was Alister who had done it; the two of them had never interacted before and after that fight with Yugi it had seemed as if he had dropped off the face of the earth. Considering it all, Yami had never once thought he would be forced to interact with the redheaded teen who smirked and wandered off when the red-eyed boy had been unable to shake the pain in his wrist enough to throttle him like he wanted.

It had actually been Yugi who had taken care of him seconds later when he had turned the corner and the two collided; Yami had staggered sideways and nearly fallen over but the smaller teen had caught him around his uninjured wrist, dropping his books to help him keep steady, muttering something or other about him watching where he was going and then following it up with a surprised look and the questioning of if he was okay.

Yami hadn't been able to shake the teen as easily as he had hoped, struggling to force his voice out and his mind to focus with the pain and his own fuzzy thought process when Yugi demanded to know if Alister had done something and if he could still walk, if he was okay enough to do that; he should have just taken the pain medication because his head had hurt too much to even walk in a straight line. He might as well have been a fucking invalid by that point.

And the only reason he hadn't lashed out—which was always his first instinct when he was hurting—had been because it was pretty clear that Yugi wasn't going to hurt him and that the blue-violet-eyed teen was just worried about him. Yami had nearly vomited on him in the last few minutes of him trying to get him to talk, his head throbbing and spinning and leaving him wanting to black out, but it came in split second spikes that let him gain just enough ground to tell him that he needed to get to class.

But he couldn't tell Bakura that he had to get back to class because school was over.

So he was stuck with the other teen following him, watching him, pointedly staring at his wrist as if he were looking for the chance to rat him out to the others.

Yami nearly screamed at him that he should do it just because he didn't have anything to lose.

He unlocked the door and Bakura followed him inside, whistling in approval; it took him a minute to realize that none of them had exactly been invited inside and allowed to move around his house before this moment. He'd always kept them away with excuses because he couldn't fathom his father being thrilled with the idea that he and his mother would not be the first to enter "their" own home.

Vaguely he made note to check for cameras again because he was relatively sure if he looked long enough, he would find them somewhere. Because he was pretty sure his father had not just left him crumpled on the floor without taking advantage of the situation further.

He had to wonder, however, how long he had been unconscious because if Yugi had gotten there without running into him, that had to say something about the length of time he spent passed out like he was.

"You're not going to touch that medication, _are_ you?"

Yami turned his head, staring at him blankly for a moment, pupils dilated slightly before they settled into their usual diameter, watching him before glancing at the pills on the table, where he had left them on accident in his hurry to get to school on time after getting up late due to the pain in his head.

"What are you talking about? I took them this mor—"

"Do you _really _think I'm that stupid, Yami?" Bakura quipped, rolling his eyes and shaking his head as he dropped his backpack on the couch and leaped over the back to take a seat, lazily grabbing the remote and turning the TV on. "I know you. You're a sneaky little fuck but you weren't paying attention to who else was around when you ran into Yugi earlier. If you had been you would have put on a better show."

Yami pulled at his brace for a second, looking it over; they had said they might need to put a cast on it but he had threatened to have Seto sue if they did so and they had backed off. A cast would have been hell. He couldn't handle a cast. No, he needed his hand. He needed it so he could fight back later.

"You looked like a one-legged elephant who could barely keep its balance while hopping along and breaking _that _leg while trying to scurry away from a rat," Bakura drawled, the bite in his words making Yami flinch slightly as he reached up to scratch at the back of his head and recoiled at the sensation of pain, the sudden motion bringing on more that left his eyes nearly vibrating in their sockets.

"Ra."

"Is not here right now." The silver-haired teen twisted around in his seat to look him over and for a moment Yami thought he was going to speak before his sloppy, tired mind finally started to catch up with the statement; he closed his eyes tightly with the realization that Bakura had followed him home to make sure that he got there okay after his little disoriented blunder in school. "Besides _that_, you know I won't tell Seto or Malik about your little episode. I won't even fucking tell them that you aren't taking your medication."

Red eyes snapped open, wide with shock at the statement before narrowing into slits. "At what price? You wouldn't keep such a big secret without something in return."

"Big secret?" Bakura scoffed, flicking his wrist lazily, mockingly. "You make it sound like you're the most important bastard in the world."

Yami groaned in annoyance. "Are you shitting me right now? What is it that you want?"

"'What is it that you want?'" he sneered in that playfully mocking voice Yami was so used to, rolling his eyes and looking at the TV for a moment, a sly smirk crossing his face as his gaze darted back towards him, peering at him through his lashes. "You _know _what I want."

"If you're talking about that thing where I promised to make you an Egyptian meal, I was lying. I really fucking suck at cooking." He paused and then added, "I could make the dead roll in their graves with the shit I would end up making. That's how bad it would be. You really _don't _want me to cook. It might kill your little sister and she's not even born yet! Just by your mom being exposed to the stench that would be stuck to your clothing."

Bakura bit back some laughter. "Oh for fuck's sake, you're a mess, aren't you?" he muttered, rolling his eyes to keep from laughing out loud; his poor cousin. "Oh, no, little cousin, that's not at _all _what I mean."

For a moment neither of them spoke and then finally Yami spat, "I'm not talking about that. I'm not going to fucking talk about Yugi with you."

He gave him a confused look, taking a second to remember his offer before laughing out loud, throwing his head back. "Fuck no, I'm not pushing for that one," he cackled, looking at him and smirking widely. "I have to admit I'm really _not_ looking forward to that talk."

"If I take you up on that offer," Yami bit out.

_When_, Bakura corrected silently, shaking his head. "Whatever. What I _meant_ was the fact that I have the same homework that you had to make up."

"You followed me here. For homework."

"No need to deadpan. Just give me the fucking sheet and I won't tell Malik and Seto about you not taking your pills," he said, holding his hand out expectantly; the red-eyed teen stared at him for a long minute and then thought hard about where those assignments had gone before shaking his head slowly.

"_No_?" he muttered, surprised; Yami usually gave up without a fuss when he had something to gain from it.

"I don't have it. It's getting graded." The red-eyed teen paused, frowning before closing his eyes momentarily. "But I'll do the worksheet if you—"

"Fuck no, I'm not letting you do _shit_!" he barked. "You look half-dead. I'm not getting your death germs on me. I'm not ready to die yet, damn it."

Yami stared at him as if he had grown an extra head before blinking once, long and slow. "I don't know whether to ask to be there when you rat me out or—"

"Ugh, as if. I'd have to deal with the shit about how I _didn't _make you take them after I found out." Brown eyes rolled in annoyance. "I'd rather fucking die than deal with _that _shit."

"So…you _aren't _going to tell them?"

"If you keep moving around like you are, then I won't _have _to," he snickered, pausing and looking him over for a moment; he looked ready to fall over but was still somehow on his feet. Bakura watched him for a second and then gestured him over to the couch. "Help me with this shit. But _no _touching. Fuck, don't even _breathe _close to me."

Yami snickered at his cousin's statement, amused out of his mind as he made his way over and plopped down on the couch; for a moment both of them stared at one another before finally the brown eyes flickered to his bag, digging through it to drop a textbook with a single leaf of paper sticking out of its pages on the table with a loud thudding noise that made his ears ring.

"You know that the medication will work, right?"

"I nearly took my head off when I went over the railing on that stupid bed. I don't need to do something stupid in this house."

"You're an idiot when you're drugged up."

"I'm stupider sober."

Bakura snickered and opened his book. "No arguments there."

"Didn't expect one." He paused. "Who told the doctor about that cliff-diving incident?"

The silver-haired teen shot him a momentarily confused look before blinking once. "I didn't know anyone had told them."

"They gave me antidepressants…"

"Well I sure as fuck didn't tell them. And I don't remember Seto or Malik mentioning it."

If it wasn't for the tone in his voice, Yami would have assumed he was messing with him.

"Anyways, help me with this shit and then go lay down or something. Just looking at you makes _me_ feel fucking pathetic."

Yami snickered in amusement.

* * *

Bakura had to drag him upstairs and into his room after he passed out suddenly two hours later, the pain finally getting to him to the point that he couldn't stay awake any longer. The silver-haired teen had cursed a million different ways in over twenty languages when the red-eyed teen had grabbed at his temple, mumbling that he was feeling sick before suddenly seeming to fold and fall straight into his side. He'd spent twenty minutes trying to figure something out to wake him up, only managing twice to make him respond which had ended up with him grabbing his wrist and sinking his nails into his skin for a split second.

Yami was oddly too heavy for him to carry and he really shouldn't have been because he had only weighed in at one-hundred-and-thirty before. But now that Bakura truly thought about it, he had a feeling that maybe it was the panic and shock of the situation that had made him so weak when it was actually famous for him to be able to grab Yami by the wrist and jerk him off his feet and even throw him a few feet through the air if he got enough momentum and caught the other teen by surprise, moving fast enough that Yami could not gain enough footing to fight him.

The carpet that Seto had paid to have cleaned of blood had made his skin crawl because—and he knew it was just him in this state of mind because it hadn't been that way before—it was suddenly dark red with his cousin's DNA.

It had taken him several tries to finally make himself move towards the steps, grabbing Yami under the arms and dragging him up backwards, forced to stare at the spot where all of the blood had been spilled. If he was dramatic he could say he almost vomited and his eyes rolled up in the back of his head, but he wasn't one for dramas so he knew it hadn't happened.

He'd gotten a small bit squeamish, felt sick to his stomach several times, but past that he was perfectly okay.

Yami was limp, like dead weight, but he was breathing; Bakura knew that much from constantly having to shift his grip on him and feeling his breath against his face when he would grab him again. Occasionally he would see his fingers twitch but most of the time he thought he was seeing things.

He barely managed to lift him and drop him into the bed, leaning over his face to press his ear near his nose and mouth, hearing his soft breaths but not doing anything to disrupt or encourage them. He leaned and braced his hands against the bed, narrowing his eyes as he came to a decision.

It took another ten minutes to wake the other teen enough to have red eyes open into slivers of color to stare at him before seeming to roll back for a split second; a few small soft smacks to his cheek had tired red eyes peering at him through long lashes.

"I need you to drink this."

Yami didn't comprehend his words until he held the soda up and nodded towards him; vaguely the concept of having such a small quantity of liquid in the bottle struck him as odd but his unbalanced mind sent him in circles before his eyes narrowed slowly.

"Yami, listen to me, okay? I need you to drink this."

The brown-eyed teen watched as Yami regarded it and somehow forced his dead weight limbs to grab at the bottle of Sprite, staring blankly before slowly taking a sip and then another until he was practically gulping it down, obviously growing used to the sensation of using his muscles before groaning and pushing the bottle towards him, falling back as Bakura caught it in his grip and watched him.

* * *

Things took a different turn that day at lunch, only two days after he had overheard the conversation about masturbating between the three cousins, two weeks after he had run into Yami who had been practically delusional in all of his pain. Yugi didn't even make it to the line. Well, actually, it wasn't even exactly time for lunch in all sense. It was more…the time right _before _lunch would have started, in the few minutes between classes, in which they all had time to get to class with a locker break in the middle.

But it might as well have been lunch because that was where Yugi was headed when it all started up.

"Can I ask you something, Yugi?" Joey sneered, smirking widely while Yugi stood completely still, determined not to show any emotion. "Who's the bitch in the relationship?"

His teeth ground together.

"I mean, one of you has to be the one who gets on his knees. I would like to think it was you, because that would just be _hilarious_, but I'm thinking _he _might be the bitch. Is your boy a cocksucker, Yugi? I think he is. I bet he flounces around in pink shirts drinking martinis, right?" He smirked wider. "You've _always _had control issues. It started with Tea, of course, and I think you like to dominate him. You're _top _in the relationship because you weren't gay before you started hanging out with him, so you must have been looking for a bitch. Was losing Tea to him really that bad that you had to go and console yourself with your own competition? That's pathetic, Yugi. _Really _pathetic. There are plenty more fish in the sea…did you never hear that expression? You could have kept up the fishing a _little _longer, dangled your _little _worm in the water, so to speak and eventually you might have gotten a bite from a girl. Aren't there enough women in Domino to go around?"

Yugi was breathing slightly harder and he was glad that the uniform shirt was baggy or Joey would have seen his stomach practically flattening and expanding in quick movements. A lot of the taunts were actually hitting a lot harder than he expected but the rational part of his brain told him that the blond was just trying to get at him and he didn't want to give the fucker that satisfaction.

"You could always go somewhere else. There are more girls around. You're short as fuck, but some girls are into that. Or do _you _like to take it up the ass?" he asked, looking shocked for a moment. "Maybe _that's _why you stopped fighting for Tea and took Yami with you. You've always _been _gay, haven't you, Yugi? There was that _something _missing when you kissed a girl so you thought one day you would just try it out with one of your buddies right—doesn't make you gay, huh? Just a little kiss, experimenting, everyone tries it out at one point or another, right?"

His breathing kicked up a notch, still silent but making his spine and torso tighten with every inhale.

"Is that what the collar's always been for? Because _you're _the bitch?"

Yugi lunged and tackled him hard, using all the force of his shoulder to knock him off his feet and then pinning him as Yami had done to him—wrists above his head, legs locking his in place, weight focused strategically in his legs and left hand, right hand around his throat squeezing tightly.

When Joey tried to move, he was effectively restrained and Yugi was oddly satisfied with the fact that Yami had done this to him in the first place, because he had taught him a neat trick like this and though he had not liked it at the time with Yami's lips pulled back to show off his sharp canines, it had definitely come in handy now.

He released his throat when he started gasping and struggling harder and then started slamming his fist into his face repeatedly, more rage building with every hit; at some point he busted his nose and lip and blood was gushing from the impact, but he did not care to stop. Joey had tortured him for years about being short, about being weak, about how he needed to be a man and grow a pair, about how he was too spineless for Tea, and now Yugi felt like pulling Yami into this was the _last _straw.

It was strange because he had never thought that Yami would be his breaking point, but that was exactly what he had become. A breaking point.

He punched harder, exhilaration rushing through his system at the pain he was inflicting on the blond, and was so caught up in the sensation that he missed it when someone grabbed him from behind and pulled him off roughly. He kicked and struggled against the grip but they secured his arms behind his back and held him like that.

He jerked to one side suddenly and threw them off balance, slamming a foot into theirs and then jerking into a spin that sent them flying off him and into the wall; he turned back to see who it was and stared for a moment.

He should have guessed it would be Tristan. Where the blond went, the brunet followed.

"Dude, Yugi, calm down," the brunet said calmly, not at all alarmed, holding his hands up. "Teachers are going to come pretty soon. You don't want to get another fight added to your record, right?"

"Fuck the record" sprang to mind immediately but it died when he suddenly caught sight of someone in the front of the crowd that had gathered while he was punching him. His eyes stretched wide and his heart skipped a beat; Yami. The red-eyed teen was in front of him, standing behind Joey's head, peering down at him.

Joey continued wiping blood from his face and glared at Yugi harshly but the blue-violet-eyed boy was mesmerized by the sight of his taller look-alike, standing only five feet away, still looking at Joey. He wanted him to look up at him, but suddenly the teen turned on his heel and shoved his way through the crowd who was staring at Yugi and Joey and laughing at the blond.

He ignored this all.

There was a strange pain in his chest as he watched the other boy disappear. He wanted to follow but his feet wouldn't obey and his lungs were starting to cave in, his throat closing up slightly as the pain intensified.

* * *

"I should say that I want to stay mad, but I don't," Yami acknowledged, taking a seat next to him and grabbing the soda from his tray, shaking it violently while Bakura watched in surprise; the red-eyed teen didn't look at him as he opened the cap and put his thumb over the end, a Mento slipping inside. Bakura yowled and jumped a mile, screeching loudly as Sprite sprayed across his shirt and left him soaked.

His cousin smirked at him widely and tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. "Payback."

"Pay—? Fuck that!" he snarled. "I drug you and you spray me with Sprite?"

"Fuck yes," he replied simply, moving his tray over to replace Bakura's soda-soaked one. "I told you I didn't want to touch them and you forced them on me."

"You fainted!"

"No. I don't _faint_," Yami argued, deadpanning. "I fall asleep without warning."

Bakura couldn't help it; the fight to stay composed was lost too quickly, snickering as he shook his head. "Fucking higher ups."

"Yep."

The two of them stared at each other for a moment until finally they both looked away and Bakura snatched a chair out from under a cheerleader who was about to take a seat, pushing his soaked one away and plopping down; laughter erupted from behind them but neither bothered to acknowledge it.

"You should have been taking them anyways."

"I don't want to sleep."

Bakura's head snapped towards him in surprise, staring at him at the disconcerting sensation of hearing his cousin's voice so quiet and weak; coffee brown eyes continued studying for a minute before looking towards the table, tearing at the tip of his tongue with his teeth. "What normally happens when you fall asleep?" he finally asked.

Yami let out a small bitter laugh. "My parents come back."

* * *

Yami was half asleep on the couch when he heard the knocking sound and jumped up, eyes wide and startled, instincts everywhere for a moment before he realized someone was at the door. He stumbled, his muscles stiff from the fetal position they had been stuck in for over three hours, and then stretched himself out before getting the door.

His eyebrows shot up and his mouth fell open for the first time in his life, but he couldn't even wrap his head around the image before him as he was tackled in a rather tight hug and the stench of alcohol wafted up into his nose. He didn't hug back and didn't make a move to do so either, instead opting for closing the door and then standing on his tiptoes, left hand braced against the wood and right reaching up to grasp the chain, his movements weighed down by the extra hundred and thirty pounds around his torso that had started to move slightly against him in confusion.

His penis hardened slightly at the small bit of friction and he finally managed to slip the head of the chain into the lock, pulling it down into place. He pulled back slightly and fell back hard when the person on him shifted position; he instinctively went to shield him from any pain, tightly wrapping himself around the boy against him and then staring up at the ceiling as pain exploded in the back of his mind.

Holy fuck his head hurt.

Well, there went his fucking painkillers.

"Yugi…"

A head of wilder-than-usual hair and half-lidded slightly grumpy but mostly lust-darkened eyes stared up at him as he moved just enough to pull his hands from Yami's back.

"Ugh, did I do this to you?"

It was rhetorical but Yugi shrugged and stretched his entire body out against his, wiggling so that he was straddling him and then leaning over him so that his face came into view and completely eclipsed the ceiling Yami had been so intent upon staring at. A small pink tongue licked at pale lips and Yami's penis hardened slightly again, stiffening further as Yugi pulled his lips back into a wide grin and then started grinding relentlessly against him.

"Yugi," he moaned, trying to squirm out from under him. He really didn't need Yugi to hate him even more for what he was doing, for the path that this little interaction was rapidly taking them. He didn't want to do something stupid. "Focus for a second, will you?"

Yugi didn't stop his grinding and even moved with him like a dog against his leg when he pulled away a couple of inches; gods, he couldn't wrap his head around the situation. Yugi was definitely plastered and horny as fuck considering his behavior, but he was nodding at him too, obviously coherent enough to know what he was asking of him.

"What happened earlier?"

His eyes narrowed in confusion and his lips were once again wet by his tongue and Yami literally watched the thoughts dance behind his eyes before they seemed to slow and focus on one in particular.

"Joey pissed me off."

"How did he do that?"

"He called you a bitch." He licked his lips again. "And then he called me one."

The second explanation made a lot more sense. Why should Yugi care if Joey called Yami a bitch? It was just as Yugi said. It was just supposed to be fun—a few fucks to get their frustrations out. Nothing more, nothing less.

Pain laced through him at the memory of Yugi perched in the chair beside his hospital bed, saying that as if he actually had control of his affections. It wasn't like any emotion he had encountered before. The love just would not fucking turn off like all the others. He had tried so many times and failed so many more. Every time he tried Yugi's beautiful face, eyes bright, smile wide, would flash through his mind and he would fall back into some vicious cycle of mourning his love of him while trying to find a reason to leave him behind. It never worked.

He could not find a single thing and it hurt so much worse for even trying in the first place.

Yugi's lips were suddenly against his and when his mouth did not open a pair of frustrated hips slammed into his and he opened his mouth in a cry of shock that the smaller boy eagerly ate up, tongue immediately in his mouth, poking, prodding, moving roughly and impatiently.

Yami couldn't bring himself to do much more than let him have his way. He didn't encourage him but then he couldn't really stop his penis from hardening drastically the more he ground against him, and he was pretty sure that was why Yugi thought he wanted to keep going.

He was a little amazed by Yugi's persistence, by the way he still made his hips move wildly against his with a delicious friction that sent waves of pleasure through his system, a pulse of heat flooding through them both, especially when he started to pull at Yami's clothes.

He finally stopped him, breaking the kiss by turning his face away and feeling Yugi's mouth against his cheek, breathing hard and then nipping harshly at the rejection, making his eyes open wide in shock at the action. His eyes darted over to see that Yugi's had narrowed into slits of pure impatience and irritation, glaring at him in absolute unhappiness as his lips pulled into a pout of a frown that was terribly adorable and aroused him even further.

"Yugi—"

"I love you."

His words were too tilted. They were too sluggish. They were spoken too fast. They were too uneven.

"Oh gods, Yugi…"

He nodded at him and licked his lips, waiting for Yami to start kissing him again because this whole patience thing was annoying the shit out of him.

"Why?"

_Huh_?

Yugi's drunken mind took a long minute to catch up with that single word, spoken in distress and pure despair. Um…that was _neither _the tone nor the word he had expected to hear.

He'd expected "I love you too" and then they could go back to their activities, speed them up a little, and end up fucking on the couch or in his room or something. So why was Yami unhappy? He'd just said what he wanted to hear, right? So what the fuck gave him the right to be so ungrateful? Didn't he—oh no. That was the problem. Yami understood _too _much.

"I love you."

It came out underlined in desperation and he hurried to press his lips against Yami's again only to feel the body under him go completely still as if he'd turned to stone; in his confusion, he didn't realize that Yami was baiting him into his next action. He pulled away, staring at him in confusion, and then was very suddenly rolled over and away while Yami scrambled back a few steps and stared at him with a miserable expression.

Yugi licked his lips and frowned in confusion, tilting his head and then wrinkling his nose. He could play dumb. Then again, maybe he just _was _dumb. This had to be the worst plan in the history of plans.

"What?" he managed, voice coming out innocently tilted and confused; he was impressed with himself at being able to even control his drunken slurs but Yami's expression only grew tenfold before his head turned away and his voice cracked when he muttered, "You have to go."

"_What_?"

Yami barely managed to contain the flinch at the disbelief and anger that Yugi's voice now held.

"I said you have to go."

"Why?" Yugi demanded angrily, crawling forward slightly and then unhappily, jerkily grabbing his chin and sloppily turning his face back to see that Yami's eyes were distressed, miserable, and yet burning with defiance and a fierceness that made his stomach flip several times.

"Because you're drunk and you don't love me. Now just go."

"What? Yes I do."

"No, Yugi, you don't. Now just…just stop."

He lost all semblance of his original plan, snarling, "Why? You said it when you were drunk too!"

"You don't _get _it, Yugi!" he snapped viciously, leaning forward so that their faces were an inch apart and his lips curled back to show off his teeth in a display of pure anger. "I got drunk _because _I loved you. I was scared and freaked out and I went out and I got my ass plastered. You did this because you wanted to be able to lie about it. You wanted to be able to say it and _pretend _it was true. But it's not and I need you to get out of here."

Yugi got up and sneered, "Fine!" in a voice close to a shout while Yami stared up at him with a fierce look that showed nothing but raw anger. "I never gave a fuck about you anyways!"

The words may have been said in a drunken rage but it didn't stop them from kicking him so hard he couldn't breathe right; his heart hurt with the stab of the statement and he curled in on himself, pulling his knees to his chest and hugging them tightly before looking at the smaller teen.

Yugi stomped his feet a couple of times, unsure of what else to do and then slowly his attention turned back to the door. When the hell had that gotten so far away? He stared at it in confusion for a moment and then made a noise in the back of his throat like "humph" and headed for it, grasping the doorknob and pulling only to find that it would not open; for a moment he stared and then it clicked. He released the knob rather sloppily and pulled the lock back to fall on its side before smirking triumphantly.

Take that piece of shit Yami's door!

Or…Yami's piece of shit door…?

Ugh, he was too drunk for grammar.

He pulled the door open to have it part an inch before stopping; his hand hurt with the force of the ricochet he received from the sturdy chain that snapped the door back in place. His drunken stupor left him confused as to how the hell the door did that. He opened it again and then jumped back when it snapped into place again.

Yami watched him with an intense curiosity and wild confusion. What the hell was wrong with him?

Yugi tried the door again and jumped even farther backwards.

The door was possessed…

That was the only way it could do that. No other doors shut themselves like this.

He approached it slowly, reaching a hand out a couple of times before snatching it back again and then licking his lips once. It didn't look like it would hurt him at least…

He grasped it with both hands, twisted slowly as if to appease it, pulled it back slightly and then froze when the door stopped with only an inch of space open. His eyes flickered up the wall to the chain lock and stared in utter confusion. What the hell was that? Was that how the door kept shutting itself?

He glanced over his shoulder at Yami, mystified by the chain, and Yami stared up at him in pure laughter as he got to his feet; he'd forgotten the game shop didn't have a chain lock. "Yugi, go sit on the couch."

"No, you just kicked me out," Yugi snapped, huffing and trying to work out the solution to the chain lock, head tilting to the side. Yami came to his side, taking his hands and gently pulling them away before closing the door and locking it again.

"What are you doing?" Yugi wailed, eyes widening. "You know this is kidnapping, right?"

"It is not. You came here of your own free will and now you're too fucking drunk to figure out how to use the door. I'm saving a life."

For whatever reason, that comment went right over his head. "Are you a firefighter?"

He blinked a few times, staring at the door and then slowly turned around to look at him with a pair of furrowed brows and narrowed eyes. "Yes." He nodded a couple of times and watched as Yugi's eyes and face lit up beautifully with the information. Yugi probably wouldn't remember anything when he woke up. "Come on, little one, let's go sit on the couch."

Yugi blinked and then shook his head stubbornly. "No, I want to go home."

Yami rolled his eyes up to the ceiling and then grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder, making him cry out and hit him wildly with his fists, screaming, "Let go! Let go of me! I don't like you! Leave me alone!"

Yami rolled his eyes, figuring that this was the worst he could dish out, but then jumped a mile with a very high-pitched squeak when Yugi opted for pinching his ass instead of just hitting him anymore. Yugi burst into giggles and hid his face in his hands while Yami dropped him onto the couch with a fond look.

Yugi giggled harder and then reached for his hip but Yami pushed his hand away, taking a seat at the other end of the couch; after a full thirty minutes of doing nothing in particular with the background noise of the TV on, Yugi crawled over to him. At first Yami stared at him warily and got ready to get up in case he tried to do something, but then Yugi dropped his head into his lap and snuggled into his side, falling asleep a moment later.

Yami stared at him for a long time and then gently raked his fingers through his hair, still feeling the sting of his words but not dwelling on them. They bit viciously at the back of his mind and he had to remind himself over eighteen times that Yugi was drunk and probably didn't mean it. _Probably_. Only _probably_.

He chanted that in his head, under his breath, even started somehow subconsciously tracing the words with his fingers into Yugi's scalp, the entire night, or well, for part of it. Until he really had to move because his legs were starting to lose circulation and the position made him stiff.

And then he had been forced to gently, awkwardly, move Yugi away to the middle cushion where the boy mumbled softly in his sleep and then woke up for a split second to stretch himself out like a dog, laying on his stomach and pressing his face down into the cool silky couch cover.

Yami had never once thought of the lounge chair as uncomfortable until that night. He couldn't sit against the cushions because the stupid buttons pressed into his back, but they served their purpose to keep him awake. Every time Yugi so much as breathed differently he was on his feet and ready to help him in case he started throwing up.

Every time it was a false alarm, however. He would breathe a little deeper and Yami would be on his feet immediately only to have Yugi's head turn one way or the other so that his cheek was lying against the cushion instead of face down. Yami spent all twelve hours of the night just going over what one was supposed to do if someone began choking on their own vomit.

Yami had never been a stupid kid and his mind was rather endless when it came to knowledge and ideas so he knew what to do although the possibility of having to do so scared him like all hell. He really hoped Yugi wouldn't start vomiting because he didn't want the smaller teen to have to go through choking on his own puke.

Yami remembered he had seen a teenager do that very thing on video and he'd nearly pissed himself at the age of eight. His father had drilled it into his mind that he was only to have fine wines and nothing else because that was the society that they ruled over and anything less was disgraceful.

The sunlight was streaming through the windows when Yugi finally stirred, hissing in pain at the throbbing in the back of his head and slowly sitting up with a wince. For a long moment he didn't recognize where he was but then Yami came into view, placing two water bottles, a Gatorade and a cup of coffee in front of him, and it came back to him in slow fragments like someone had dialed back the speed on a movie he was watching. Yami had rejected him.

Then again, he had been smart as hell to figure out that he had gotten plastered in order to even be _able_ to say that he loved him back. What if he could never say those words? His stomach twisted with the idea. It didn't matter if it was just Yami now who said he loved him or if down the road there were a million different lovers that he had and they all said it. Because if he couldn't even say it to Yami, who haunted his thoughts half the time, who left him practically breathless with lust just by being in the same room, then who the hell _could _he say it to?

"You're going to get dehydrated in about three minutes when you toss up your cookies. First you need to drink the water, then alternate it with Gatorade, water again, and then you can have your caffeine."

Yugi stared at him and then spat, "Why the fuck should you care?" in an angry, hoarse voice that made his cotton dry mouth hurt and his throat constrict.

Yami gave him a look that clearly said _Are you fucking _kidding_ me right now? _and left him feeling stupid; of course he was going to care if he was… Yugi swallowed hard at the thought and, just as Yami predicted, he felt his stomach heave and bile rise up in the back of his mouth. The red-eyed teen moved out the way just in time for him to avoid getting run into as Yugi fled into the bathroom and started throwing up loudly.

He took a spot on the loveseat, shaking his head and leaning forward with his elbows against his knees; if he hadn't thought that he would end up hurting Yugi's head, he would turn the TV back on, but as he had found out the day after his little fun at Yugi's house the first time, moving pictures, flashing lights, and loud noises were _not _good company for a hangover. Instead he listened to the sound of Yugi throwing up and if he had thought it would have been of comfort, he would have gone and rubbed his back while he vomited, but he had a feeling that Yugi was not happy with the fact that he had pushed him away.

He ran his hands through his hair, let his bangs get caught wrapped around his pinky finger, struggling for a moment to pull it out; after a whole night of stressing out and jumping up at every little sound Yugi made, his hair was practically a hotel service that rats and birds would happily nest in it. The tangles were endless due to his jerky hand movements because it seemed that every time he went to run his hands through his hair, Yugi had shifted and he'd been rendered scared shitless to the point that he actually at some point pulled a massive clump of his own hair out when he got back from a small bathroom break to find Yugi was making some strange noise that he had mistaken for choking. Yami still wasn't sure what that noise was. Maybe it was just snoring.

When you were drunk, you slept differently than when you were sober and because of this, Yugi could have just been snoring. It would definitely explain it.

Yami didn't plan to tell Yugi what had happened. He had no plans whatsoever to tell him that he had spent all night awake and jumpy, although, now that he thought about it, it was probably written all over his face. He had seen it in the mirror at one point and had nearly cried out.

Bags, rats' nest, his eyes swollen and puffy and red from rubbing them all night, his clothes wrinkled brutally from his constant moving around, the way his eyelids drooped, and the fact that right beneath his right eye, he had rubbed the skin to the point that it had actually flaked off and instead of the nice golden-bronze shade, it was red and pink and looked like he had torn open a blister and it had yet to scab over.

Yami had not gone to the restroom in eight hours because of his watching Yugi but he wasn't complaining either. He'd often had to sit through thirteen hour lessons with his mother teaching him all the things she thought he would need to succeed. From six to eight he had had trouble with it, but after nine years old he had learned to control his own body functions so well that he could go a full two days without using the restroom. Not that he ever planned to have to do that.

But he had been curious at one point when he was twelve and after the two day mark he was just glad he could still use the restroom at all with the way he felt so strange and bloated. He never planned to test that little…rather disgusting talent of his again.

But fuck if his uncanny ability to hold in excursions hadn't taken a load of stress off of him during his childhood. Every time he had to take a bathroom break during his mother's teaching hours, he'd gotten a five-page essay to do on the history of Egypt and the pharaohs—the ancient lineage of monarchs that they hailed from. He definitely recognized the pharaoh he was named after. They looked alike, except that Atem had had strange purple flecks in his eyes and Yami had purely red eyes.

Yugi returned half an hour later, stumbling a little and definitely not happy as he plopped down on the couch next to him, frowning and looking at the drinks on the table. The coffee smelled so fucking good, but Yami had more experience with hangovers than he did, so if he said he needed to get hydrated again first…

He took one of the water bottles and started sipping, the cool liquid soothing his burning throat and acidic mouth. He was disappointed to find that Yami's keen eyes were not open, instead closed and pressed against the heels of his hands, his entire posture slumped over and tired.

"You okay?" he managed to rasp.

Yami didn't respond for a full minute and when he did, all Yugi received was a measly nod that both pissed him off and worried him to no end.

"You sure?"

He didn't have to wait nearly as long this time. Yami nodded almost immediately, pulling his hands away slightly and then laying his arms down against his knees, eyes opening slightly and regarding him with a sidelong glance.

Yugi felt sick for a moment, taking in all the things wrong with this picture. Yami looked defeated, tired, unable to gain any bearing. His eyes were dark and shadowed, marred by black bags and even his eyelashes seemed to droop—although that was probably just the small bit of dizziness Yugi had acquired from that painful run into the bathroom and back. His lips were set into a hard line, not one of disapproval, but sorrow and pain. His hair was knotted and it was rather evident that he had torn a patch out at some point by the way some of them stuck out and looked jagged and almost static-like in their design. His bangs were unruly and no longer fell together in long strands; instead they looked like he had run his fingers through them to the point that they could no longer stick together. And when Yami finally turned his head a little to gesture to his water bottle with a slight nod, Yugi could see that his eyes were swollen, puffy, reddened, but obviously not from crying.

No, Yami had not cried, he had rubbed at his eyes until they were sore to the touch. Yugi recognized that from three days straight of being in the hospital when his grandfather first had a heart attack and his parents weren't around. He had not left the hospital room once in that three day period. He'd gotten cramped, tired, cranky, from sleeping on one of those stupid chairs, but he hadn't complained, had watched cable until he was practically bleeding out script lines, and then he had rejoiced when his grandfather pulled through, as he always did.

Which meant that Yami had stayed up all night. Watching him. Making sure nothing…happened to him.

His stomach twisted. Holy crap.

Yugi almost wanted to throw up with the force of the realization. Fuck, Yami had stayed up all night to take care of him. The guilt ate away at his stomach and left him winded for a moment. He didn't even know what he would have done if Yami had thrown up in his sleep.

He didn't know what to say for a long time before clearing his throat and muttering, "Um…thanks."

The taller boy didn't respond, not that Yugi had really expected him to.

"You, uh…at school." God, his mouth tasted disgusting.

Yami merely reached forward and grabbed the blue Gatorade, opening it and sliding it forward. "Alternate between water and Gatorade. Finish those off and then you can have your caffeine," he muttered, a not-so-precise repetition of his previous words upon Yugi's awakening.

"You didn't tell them that it was photo-shopped. Why didn't you back me up on that?"

The taller teen frowned as he watched Yugi take a sip of the blue liquid followed by water and back again, his red eyes tracking him as he tilted his head. "I have no plans to do so," he admitted.

Yugi put the cap back on his Gatorade and Yami took in the way that his knuckles grew white with their grip on the orange plastic; for a moment they stared at each other and then Yugi shot forward so fast it was amazing his headache didn't kill him. Yami was thrown sideways off the couch, hit the ground hard, and felt Yugi's hands around his neck for a split second before sobbing noises echoed through the silence, thick and swollen and sounding like he was blubbering.

His hands pulled away from his neck and the sobbing grew louder as his shoulders shook but Yami did nothing but stare up at him in utter confusion; why the fuck was he crying? What the hell was going on?

Yugi shifted and moved away from him, backed up into couch, pulling his legs up to wrap his arms around them and sob into his knees. Yami forced himself upright enough to look at him with wide eyes, confused and feeling a small pang of pain in the back of his mind that left him even worse off than he was before.

"Hey, did I ever…tell you why I came here?" Yami finally asked when Yugi's sobbing became too much to see, too much to hear; the smaller boy shook his head without looking up. "When I first turned three, rumors started appearing out of nowhere in Egypt. Things about my mom, about me, about my dad. People claimed that I was illegitimate, a bastard child."

Yugi shifted slightly but didn't look up completely, instead settling for looking at him over the crook of his folded right elbow.

"The rumor was that my parents…weren't mine. That I wasn't really Ambassador Aknamkanon's son."

"So _that's _how you pronounce it," Yugi muttered, just loud enough for Yami to hear it even through the barrier of his arms and knees, his eyes wide as he regarded Yami curiously.

Yami blinked once and then laughed. "I know, right? Too many letters."

"That was what I thought!"

Yami chuckled and shook his head, leaning back against the coffee table and thinking for a moment. "My mom…is not very well known for being the most faithful. Before my father, she…had many lovers. It was like…she craved the attention." He gave Yugi a pointed look and for a moment Yugi didn't understand and then it dawned on him; that was how Yami knew that he sought out attention the way he did, because his mother did the same. "So it was really surprising that she settled down with my father. And especially so when they announced that they were going to have a child. She had never really…gotten pregnant before—people thought she was barren for a long time—so I came as a shock to everyone, especially the doctors. I am the only child she could ever have."

Yugi opened and closed his mouth and then gave him a small sympathetic look that Yami scowled at.

"And I…look nothing like them. People came up with rumors that I was not really their son so we had paternity tests when I was four until I turned ten. That was how bad the rumors were. Proof of my parents was posted everywhere in Egypt. Things were just…really fucked up." He shrugged a little, crossing his legs and thinking for a long minute. "And what was worse is that people didn't really believe the paternity tests. So, when I turned twelve and hit puberty, a bunch of shit happened. First my parents tried to get me hitched with females everywhere…as long as they were part of the same social hierarchy as we were."

Yugi blinked.

"And rebellion—for lack of a better word—broke out. People started thinking I was biogenetically engineered to make us seem more powerful in Egypt"—at Yugi's blank look, he sighed softly—"As in they thought that my parents paid someone to give me certain features so that I would look exactly like the pharaoh Atem so that they could name me that and have more power."

"Can…can people do that?"

"I don't know. I've heard rumors, but I've never really…thought about it or witnessed it. I just know that people seem to think that I am one of them."

"I'm sorry."

Yami gave him a sharp look. "Anyways, my parents sent me here to shield me from the rumors of my mother's infidelity towards my father. I always wanted to come here because it just seemed like a really nice place to go. Father and I argued for hours on end about this"—he neglected to mention that most of that was him begging forgiveness while his father screamed and looked ready to tear him to pieces the entire time—"but he finally relented when my mother told him that it could only further my education."

For a long minute neither of them spoke and Yami collected his thoughts before tipping his head towards the ceiling, eyes closed.

"The rumor morphed into the fact that I was the illegitimate bastard child of my mother, that my father is merely covering up something. I wasted six years doing fucking paternity tests with my parents for nothing," he growled, opening his eyes in a roll before twisting his body to fall back against the carpet in the space between the couch and the table. "The political scandal became too much of a focus in my life. Someone actually tried to kidnap me at one point in order to see what would happen if they took blood. Someone else claimed that they were my father. Rumors shot up everywhere. And then I came here and it was like I dropped off the face of the planet in Egypt."

Yugi opened his mouth but was beaten to the punch.

"People are still obsessed with it though. They honestly don't believe my father is a descendant of the monarchs. But he has to be, right? I mean, if he wasn't…I wouldn't look like I do," he muttered in wonder before shaking his head. "Either way, I'm in Japan now because of this. Well, actually, I'm stuck here _now _because my cousin got me emancipated, but that's beside the point."

"I'm sorry, Yami."

Yami didn't respond.

For a moment Yugi didn't say anything.

"I'm really sorry—"

"Shut the fuck up already. I don't need your fucking pity, Yugi," he snapped viciously. "Besides, you need to fucking worry about yourself rather than me because shit at school is just going to get worse than it already has been."


	14. The Concert

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Note: Story will be updated every Wednesday**

**Warning: TONS of cursing throughout story**

**Homosexual Semi-Discrimination Warning: Some discrimination towards homosexuals is mentioned in fifth part.**

**Season 0 Yami Warning: Season 0 Yami makes an appearance in the final part of this chapter. **

Chapter XIV: The Concert

Yugi got a microphone shoved into his face before he could even blink; a million voices were screaming for his attention, some in Japanese and some in Arabic, all of them loud and screeching and making his eardrums weak. He let out a strained noise as more of them were thrust in his face and he went wide-eyed when one of them snarled, "That's not him! Atem has red eyes."

Red eyes…Atem…_Yami_…what the fuck was going on?

"Where is he?" another whispered.

The Egyptians all started to pull away while the Japanese reporters remained for a moment longer and then pulled away from him as well; he stood around listening to them all chatting softly about how the ambassador's son had been under their noses the entire time or how they couldn't believe that the red-eyed boy was actually fucking another male. He would have saved himself the trouble of his voice by texting him but his phone was off since he was too lazy to pay the bill the day before and the uproar started again only twenty minutes later when Yugi yelled, "Yami, run!" as loud as he could.

Bakura, Malik, and Yami all froze and then the reporters started towards the red-eyed teen, acting like magpies; the teen actually started to take his advice and run but new vans of reporters were pulling up and one of them came to a stop right behind him.

His cousins left him to fend for himself, pushing their way through the crowd and into the schoolyard with the occasional glance back that clearly said they were sorry to do it but there was no way they were going to be recorded like that; Yami struggled in a sea of limbs and microphones all shoved at him, eyes wide and desperate, scared out of his mind.

"Atem."

"Atem."

"Atem."

"Atem."

Yami backed up into a newsperson and nearly fell over but just barely managed to keep his own footing; for a moment he looked like he was going to flee and then he straightened his shoulders and stood regally, raising his head slightly.

"Is it true? Are the rumors true?"

Red eyes like crystallized blood froze and narrowed into slits. "You have mistaken rumor for reality," he stated coldly in perfect Arabic, glaring fiercely. "Now move out of my way."

Yugi had to admire him because it was obvious that there was a small gleam of fear in the corner of his eyes that made him sympathize with the red-eyed male in front of him. The amount of respect he held for the other teen in that single moment made it impossible for him to turn away, to not feel slightly overwhelmed with the onslaught of the emotion.

"If it's not true then why are you here?"

Yami gestured towards them. "This is reason enough. I did not wish for my privacy to be invaded as you are doing now."

"What about the boy from the photo?" Some of them actually pulled the photo up on their tablets and showed them to him and another actually grabbed Yugi by the arm and pulled him forward; he struggled, tried to get out of her grip, but the fingers tightened and he felt like his limb would fall off with the iron clad grip holding his arm so tightly.

"What of him?"

Yugi was thrust roughly towards him by a very vicious looking Egyptian woman who put the microphone in his face, the small teen stumbling slightly but somehow managing to keep his grace just long enough to gather his footing again.

"Is this him?"

Yami glanced at him sideways and then curled his lip back, eyes flashing like ice for a moment. "The photo is false. There was nothing to it."

"Are you insinuating that you know nothing of this student?"

Yugi frowned and glared at the Japanese woman speaking; why couldn't she be on his side? He was her own damn race. Did that mean nothing to these people?

"I know him, of course. He goes to my school. I was partnered with him for a project," Yami stated in Japanese, hissing softly when one of the microphones got too close for comfort.

"Is that not him and you in that photo?"

"I did not say that," he snapped. "I merely said the photo was fabricated. It is as simple as that. I do not fraternize with males."

"So you are insinuating that you never had relations of sexual nature with this boy?"

"All interactions with him have been completely platonic, I assure you."

"Do you have a girlfriend then? Why have we not heard about you having a—?"

"I—"

Mai slipped through crowd and got to his other side, smiling as she snuggled into his flank; Yami gave her a shocked look before smirking and wrapping his arm around her waist. Fury boiled up in the pit of Yugi's stomach but he fought it back in order to remain calm to the cameras that were in their faces.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he whispered, guising it as kissing her cheek.

"Saving your ass," Mai replied, returning the motion.

Yami gave her a somewhat stunned look before kissing her cheek for real. "Thank you."

She pecked him on the lips. "You're welcome."

"Who is this?"

"This is my girlfriend, Mai Valentine."

She waved at them and snuggled further into his side, which was a little awkward considering the size difference between them; Yugi saw a bright flash of red and even tasted it for a second before realizing he had torn his cheek open in his frustration.

_Dear Ra, it would be very nice if you did not fuck me over this time. Please and thank you, with _much _love, Yami Atem Sennen_.

* * *

"What the fuck was that?" Joey spat at her as soon as the news reporters finally left them alone and Yami gave her a quick peck on the cheek before starting off; the blond had all three of them cornered in front of the doors. "You're not his girlfriend, Mai."

"Oh, so fucking what, Joey?" she snapped. "I was helping my friend out of a tight situation."

"He's a fucking fag and you _kissed _him."

"Your point, Wheeler?"

"So you could have caught something—"

"And you wonder why I don't like you enough to date," she growled, bristling. "You don't know anything about loyalty, do you, Joey? Because Yugi was your friend before all of this and you turned your back on him like he was never important. You don't just do that. And whatever the fuck you have against Yami, you should back off because that 'fucking fag' could kick your goddamned ass if you're not careful."

The blond looked shocked out of his mind while Yami gave her a small grateful smile before turning and heading off into the building after she gave him a small simple wink; as soon as he got inside he was cornered by a disgruntled-looking Yugi who asked, "Are you and Mai…?"

"Fucking?" Yami supplied with a small growl. "No, we are not."

"So then…"

"Who I fuck and who I don't fuck is none of your concern, Yugi. You stated that very clearly on more than one occasion," he spat coldly.

And then he started to realize that the disgust he had shown when Yugi was shoved in front of the others with him, that curl of his lip, the sharp glare, the subtle shift of his body away from him, had not been fake; he _was _disgusted with him and mad as all hell at him.

"Okay, what the fuck did I do this time?"

He really hoped this wasn't about how he accidentally left the seat down when he threw up and so some of his vomit kind of hit the front of it from where he leaned over it…

"What the fuck do you _think _it is about, Yugi?" he snapped.

"I honestly have no fucking—"

"Tell me something, Yugi. Is Ushio one of your fuck buddies too? Did I fuck someone who _Ushio_ had been inside?" he snarled softly. "Because if I did, I should probably go cut it off now while there is still _time _to stop the disease that might be festering inside me."

"What the fuck are you—? No! Of course he isn't—"

"Really? Hmm. Because you didn't really seem to be fighting him."

"I was tired, Yami. I had to deal with shit before you got there and even more shit when you showed up in class."

"So you're blaming that on _me_?" he demanded incredulously.

"What the fuck does this even have to do with _anything_?" he snapped. "You're not making any fucking sense, Yami. So, let me ask again, what the fuck did I _do _this time?"

"You know what the fuck you did, Yugi. You speak Arabic and yet you stood there just staring like a dumbass the entire time. You speak Japanese and yet you never once opened your mouth. You never said the photo was fake. You didn't back me up. You just made Mai—my friend since _ninth grade_, my _first _friend, actually—jump in your place to fucking save my ass."

"What the…?" He barked out a laugh. "Oh that's _rich, _Yami. Honestly, you thought I was going to stick my neck out for you when you won't do the same for me?"

Yami bared his teeth. "That is not the same, Yugi Motou and you fucking know that," he spat, pushing him hard into the locker. "This is my fucking life we're talking about. This could make or break _everything_ for me! My father was probably watching that. And you stood there like an idiot the entire time. He doesn't fucking believe me when I say that it was fake because he won't _listen _long enough to hear me _say _it. And for fuck's sake, this is _high school_, Yugi! It means nothing in the long run. As soon as high school is over, if I'm not back in Egypt, I'll hit a whole other fucking continent and this place will never cross my mind again."

Yugi flinched and backed up further into the lockers before sneering, "I didn't know that was what you did to someone you claim to love."

The red eyes narrowed into slits before he whispered, growling softly, "Oh, I do, I do love you, Yugi, and I don't know how or why but I sure as fuck know that I don't want to. And I sure as fuck know that if I get the chance to get out of here, I will take it no matter if I have to leave you behind. Because, honestly, you care nothing for me and I don't have the strength to keep pretending we will ever have a chance."

He flinched again, his back hurting as a locker dial dug into his skin.

"I will leave everything behind because I don't have to take it with me. And you? Yugi, you said it yourself. I'm just a quick lay for you. An easy fuck. Fun time. A stress reliever. That's all I am for you. That's all I will ever _be _to you. I don't care for it anymore. If I get the chance, I will be gone and never once will you cross my mind. You will have no place in my life when high school is over, which is exactly how you wanted it, right? We fool around, we don't get attached. Easy. No strings. You got what you wanted."

He blinked wide eyes but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out.

Yami smirked at him cruelly and stepped back. "You're going to get what you want. Have fun with it. And I think maybe you should start looking for a new fuck buddy in the meantime. I don't really see myself under that title much longer."

_No, because you want a relationship,_ Yugi thought with a small shake of his head._ And you won't get that with me. So you're going to leave. Just. Like. The. Rest. Of. Them._

But then…Yugi had pushed and pushed some more when Yami got too close. So, in all reality, this was really his fault.

* * *

"Alister."

He wasn't really sure what he was doing there or really even _why _he had found himself following the boy into the locker room, but there he was and with all of his frustration, it was not much of a surprise that he was choosing the redhead to take it out on. He _had _harmed Yami, after all.

When he turned around, his eyes stretched wide and he jerked backwards several steps but the small teen didn't bother to let him get far, stepping forward immediately to glare at him fiercely, narrowing his gaze into slits and clenching his jaw momentarily.

"Yugi, what the fuck are you—?"

He had honestly almost forgotten that they had not interacted since that day in gym when he had beaten him up for continuously hitting the volleyball into the back of his head like that; the idea made him smirk in amusement. That had been a great day. The gleam of alarm and fear made him smirk wider.

"You know, I should have done this sooner," he muttered, balling his right hand into a fist and then flexing it out again. "I saw what you did before with Yami, when you threw him into the wall like that. Couldn't have done it if he didn't have that brace on, huh? Didn't have the balls to pick on him before then. And you know, it's even better because you _knew _we weren't talking. Do I really scare you _that _much, you little _bitch_?"

"I don't know what you're—"

"Shut the fuck up. You know _exactly _what I'm talking about, damn it," he spat, rolling his eyes and letting out a deep breath of a huff through his nose; Alister stared at him with wide eyes but slowly ground his teeth together and shook his head incredulously.

"You came here to defend your little boyfriend?" he snorted, laughing. "I can't fucking believe this. You're calling _me _the bitch but you're the one over here about to pick a fight with me over _yours_!"

Yugi decided not to comment with the initial "Don't call him that" because he honestly could not care _less _about what the boy in front of him had to say, not about him, and not about Yami either. No, he was just waiting for it, for his frustration to boil over. He was waiting until he could get some of it out. Maybe Alister's trash talk would do it or maybe he would just naturally call it up again, because his mind was still buzzing with that conversation between him and Yami.

About Ushio, about Mai, about the rejection.

Fucking Yami.

Of course Ushio wasn't his fuck buddy. And Yami was a fucking moron to think that was possible. He almost wanted to laugh in his face at the very idea but in all actuality, he supposed if Yami had not seen him when he was being dragged into the bathroom—he really needed to ask him about that at some point—then it would have just looked like he was complying with him because he didn't want to argue and Ushio was propositioning him. It would have seemed simple enough an explanation, that he was acting as Ushio's booty call.

And Mai…He knew there had to be something to that. They were best friends, yes, but could they be more? When he had suggested it at the hospital, he had been trying to push Yami towards her rather than him, towards a source of affection that he could actually _have_, one that his father would approve of as well as one that was actually requited. Because it was obvious that Mai had feelings for him. The problem was Yami. If he was actually completely homosexual like Yugi suspected, then of course he would not want to date her…

Yugi found his teeth grinding together at the thought of that night on the couch with him. He'd fucking rejected him when he had said that he loved him. But then again, the words had been false, had been slicked down with liquor and his own desperation to have some kind of connection with another person.

Yami was honestly right to do so but it didn't stop the sting at the thought, the subtle bruise to his ego that seemed to pulse when he was around the other teen. How disgusting.

Gods, how much lower could he _sink_?

Was there no rock bottom for him?

Or maybe it was when he broke down and threw himself at Yami's feet like a dog to its master, begging him to say he loved him again or pushed Yami until he hated him and both of them were so unstable and broken that they couldn't function anymore. Was it when he tried to break Yami's will? Was it when his own broke? Was it at the point when he somehow, at some point, maybe drunk or sober or high, thought it was a good idea to do something so stupid as to call his parents and ask for their advice?

He'd been dragged into court twice because of their stupid divorces. And he'd been dragged to their wedding when they suddenly decided to remarry. He'd heard the vows, he'd seen his mother, he'd watched his father, and yet the entire time he was there he was thinking, _How long is it going to last _this _time_?

He had ignored them when they spoke to him and he had ignored them when they tried to discuss school. But he had fought tooth and nail when they asked him if he wanted to move to Europe with them, where they manned the European wing of Kaiba Corp. His grandfather had been forced to pull him away when he started yelling at them about how stupid they were and how much of a waste of money all of it was…

Yugi shook that train of thought off, instead focusing on the stupid redhead who was still sneering something or other at him. For a moment he debated actually listening but half of him still wished to dwell in his head, though finally he relented when his mind circulated back to the incident with Yami and Ushio. He knew they had never spoken about it because of the night at his house when he was drunk and maybe it had festered in Yami's mind the entire time they were together or maybe it had just come up because he was pissed off, but now that it was out in the open between them, even if only for that split second, it was driving him insane…

Surely Yami didn't think he was _that _low, right?

"This is seriously pathetic, Yugi. Honestly. Who wants to fight for someone who can't fight for themselves?"

The small teen didn't respond, instead focusing in on his face, locking eyes with him, allowing his thoughts to drown and die away in the back of his mind instead.

"So I guess he really _is _the bitch. Joey was right then. Does he suck you off well—?"

Yugi punched him so that his head whipped to the side. He stumbled and his knee slammed into his stomach as he lurched. His hand grabbed at his hair, jerking his head forward to throw him to the ground. "Don't even start with Joey," he spat, glaring. "And if you ever touch Yami again, I will break every bone in your body, understand?"

Alister groaned and the smaller teen would have snapped at him that he hadn't hit him that hard but he'd gone full out in those three blows, so he knew that they had to be pretty harsh.

"I asked if you understood!" he snarled, crouching down to look at him with narrowed eyes. When he nudged him with his palm to his shoulder, the redhead cowered away, nodding desperately, and Yugi snorted in amusement as he straightened again. "Good. Now that we have _that _straightened out, you should make sure that you stay out of his way for now on, okay? Otherwise I might be forced to shove my foot so far up your ass that it'll take surgery to remove it again."

* * *

It was really strange when he got the urge to text him. It was two in the morning and he couldn't really see him replying, but he was shocked when the answer to _Want to hang out tomorrow_? came a few minutes later with _I'm sorry, did you just invite me to do something other than fuck you_?

Oh, so funny. Yugi rolled his eyes. _Yes._

There was a long minute of silence on Yami's end before finally a new text came in. _What is it you wanted to do_?

He really hadn't thought that far. In all honesty, he just wanted to see if Yami would go somewhere with him; he glanced around for a long minute and then smirked when he saw the tickets he had won from the school auction a few months ago. And, oh, look at that, they were for tomorrow.

How strange.

He smirked a little. Probably one of those unconscious things he always did. He would remember a date in the back of his mind and around the time that it came up, he would feel like something important was going on or he wanted company or whatever it involved until it came to mind again.

_I won the tickets from the end of the year auction last year._

Every year at the end of the year, Domino High had a fundraising event, an auction with items that they all _knew _the students would be interested in. Sometimes there were laptop systems, others entire book sets with autographs, concert tickets, and sometimes special edition movies. And it was held the _entire _day of the last day of school, after all of the testing was done and everyone was ready for break. Every student was required to be there aside from the seniors but most of the time they came anyways. If there was a limited quantity of items, then there would be a bid set up and anyone could throw in their numbers.

Yugi had been saving up his money purely for this reason that year, though it was hardly even needed considering that he got a lot of money every month from his parents. Kaiba Corp paid _well_. No one could claim otherwise.

Curiously Yugi had a split second where he wondered why Yami had never once contributed to the bidding when he knew that he had given Mana and Mahado money that they could spend on the items if they wanted; he remembered how he had been stunned out of his mind when he had seen Yami handing them both some cash before the event began. Back then he had thought that maybe they were all in business together, whether it be drugs or some kind of cheating scandal, he had no idea, but he had not been focused on it for longer than several minutes before Joey and Tristan started talking to him and the bidding started.

And he gave them a _lot _because those two items that they wanted had been high priced when the bidding began and when they won, he remembered looking at the red-eyed teen who was sitting several rows away with his focus zeroed in on the principal; when they had locked eyes for that split second, he had been convinced that he was staring at him smugly because that seemed like something he would do considering the way he held himself but now, as he thought back to it, he realized Yami had gone pale when their gazes met and he had honestly looked close to sick in that single moment.

Gods, it was so weird how things had changed so drastically; back then he had not known Yami at all, had not known even how to read him, and now he knew where to look for the flashes of emotion in his eyes and he'd seen some beneath his shell. It almost hurt to think of how much of an idiot he was to assume things of the red-eyed teen before.

For a minute Yami didn't answer.

_I know that. We were all there when you outbid everyone._

Yugi huffed. _No reason to get pissy._

_I am not pissy. I just don't understand what you want from me involving concert tickets._

_Are you going to make me spell it out for you_?

_Please do, because I'm pretty sure what you're talking about and what I am is not the same._

Yugi rolled his eyes but had to smirk. Smartass.

_I'm asking if you want to go to the concert with me._

He actually waited ten minutes for the next response, just as he was about to ask Yami if he should take his silence as a no.

_I'm sorry. I had to go dunk my face in a bucket of cold water. Make sure I was _awake.

Yugi smirked. _I don't know. Do you dream about me, Yami_?

For a long minute there was no response and then suddenly his phone was ringing and he had to laugh when he answered it and Yami spat, "Fuck off bitch" before he could even say anything.

"Geez, I thought to invite you to a concert and this is what I get for my efforts?"

Yami scoffed. "It's two in the morning. What the fuck are you even doing up?"

"I should be asking you that."

"Watching TV."

"Are you drunk?" Yugi asked when Yami's words slurred slightly.

"What? No!" Yami started moving around for a moment and then cleared his throat slightly. "No, I…I just haven't been sleeping right. I'm about to drop in another hour or two but for right now I'm wide awake so please, details, Yugi."

"About the concert?"

"No, about your lifestyle. Yes, the fucking concert, you idiot."

He laughed, "You know, with an attitude like that, I don't even think I want to take you anymore."

"I don't even know which band it is. Honestly, I don't know if I would go anyways."

His words slurred together but if Yami was drunk, he would not be this sharp and witty. No, he was hilarious when he was drunk because he couldn't figure out what the fuck he was doing unless he actually _was _fucking.

"Tokyo Hotel," Yugi stated, looking the tickets over; he'd heard some of their songs but he'd never really bothered to see them before. "I heard they were good."

"You didn't even know them before and you wasted two thousand _dollars _on the stupid things?" Yami asked incredulously; Yugi could practically see him shaking his head and rubbing his temples.

"Tea liked them."

Yami went silent for a long time and even through the phone the tension seemed thick as ice and hard as rock.

"Oh."

They both stayed quiet for a few minutes.

"What time is it?"

Yugi looked at the tickets and raised an eyebrow. "Ten at night tomorrow."

Neither of them mentioned that this was more like a date than some simple meeting, especially considering they were once meant for Tea.

"Where?"

"Tokyo."

Both of them shared a snicker at the irony.

"So…do you want to go?"

He hated how hesitant he sounded, the way he actually scuffed his shoe nervously on the floor, something he hadn't done in _years_, the fact that he actually lowered his eyes to take in the path of his sneaker.

"…I suppose. But is this just for a hookup? Because if it is, then I think you're overdoing it a little, Yugi."

He let out a small laugh. "No, it's not. I mean, I didn't think it would be before you mentioned it…do you want it to be a hookup?"

Yami hung up and Yugi laughed for ten minutes afterwards.

* * *

The concert was awesome. The crowd was pumped. They were right in the front because they had great tickets.

And when it ended and Yugi decided that he needed some air, using the guise of going to the restroom, he was unsurprised when Yami did not acknowledge his departure, did not watch him go, did not even turn his head in his direction, and why would he? There were people in the crowd who recognized him—not many, but just enough to be able to make a scene if he were to pay attention to Yugi rather than the lovely self-proclaimed girlfriend Mai Valentine who—admittedly, Yugi was rather semi-glad but frustrated as all hell about this—had been coaxed into coming when Yami called her and asked her if she still had her tickets lying around the house and to bring Vivian with her.

But he was surprised when he could hear them talking as he walked around to the back of the concert hall, away from the crowd and the parking lot, and leaned against the building's stone wall.

He shouldn't have been, but he was surprised when the three of them stopped short a few feet away and just stood around, talking quietly about the band—Yami seemed to think they were okay but not the best but Mai was arguing for her favorite band and Vivian was saying that the boy in the front was fuck-hot and she would ride him if she ever got the chance. And Yugi's blood boiled when Yami said he was okay looking but not as hot as Vivian claimed, laughing that yes, he would fuck him if he was given the chance when the brunette pushed at the matter.

And then they fell silent for a long time.

"The tickets were meant to be for me and you."

"I know."

They just _stood _there, inches apart, just _looking _at each other.

"When did you buy them?"

"Months ago."

And Yami only nodded. "Thanks."

Mai didn't respond aside from carefully glancing at Yugi from the corner of her eye; the small teen hurriedly pulled his phone out and pretended to have gotten a text, messing with the screen halfheartedly and keeping the screen lit up by tapping the numbers for his password but not putting it in.

Yugi didn't miss it when Mai looked at Yami and then tilted her head towards him and those red eyes flickered to the ground and he wouldn't look at her or Vivian anymore; he didn't miss it when Mai gave him a small glare that told him that he better not hurt him, and then hugged the red-eyed male tightly.

"I'm sorry, Mai."

"I thought I told you to stop apologizing for stupid things."

Yami was chuckling as he returned it and Yugi bared his teeth behind his lips as their bodies seemed to mash together with the tightness of the embrace. And then they released and he was half-glaring half-blinking when Vivian gave him a hesitant hug and then both girls waved at him in passing before wandering off into the parking lot where they climbed into Mai's dark purple convertible, honking once before speeding out.

Both of them waved as they left but then they were left in perfect silence and a tension so thick it was like ice and granite, wearing them down and making the chill of the winter night that much colder against their skin.

Yugi let his eyes flicker back over to the taller teen who looked back and then finally the two of them moved towards each other, stopping a couple of steps away from each other, staring.

"Mai is just a friend—"

"I didn't ask."

"I want you to know anyways."

"Why?"

Yami didn't answer but the look in his eyes spelled it out and Yugi immediately felt rather stupid for asking that three letter question; hesitantly, the smaller teen took a step forward but it felt strange and for a moment he couldn't make himself do it, but eventually he managed to make another two to follow up his first.

And Yugi could practically _feel _the warmth of his body, those dark red eyes never once leaving his face, burning like fire under the dim lighting of the parking lot, dominating as he lowered his eyes in a motion that seemed out of character for the smaller teen, staring at the ground.

For a moment Yami didn't move but then his feet carried him over to the wall where he leaned back, drawing Yugi's attention towards his still form, eyes widening as he looked at him, took in the way he crossed his arms over his chest and tipped his head towards the right with his eyes closed.

And Yugi had to admit that Yami looked beautiful and intimidating and fuck-hot all at once. With his head like this, his bangs fell to make his sharp jaw more prominent. The clothes he wore accentuated his lean build, and the colors definitely brought out more of his features than the smaller boy really cared to admit. With a black leather jacket over a dark red shirt, his eyes were made darker and more vibrant, and the dark blue jeans he wore made his legs look slimmer and made him appear a little taller, and his red-laced black Converse with the blue symbol on the side made the outfit even more put together. But it was the bracelets that really caught Yugi's attention, because they were just like something he himself would wear. And he had to admit that Yami putting so much effort in for a concert with him, ditching his normal attire of graphic tees and jeans, was kind of hot. And oddly very sweet as no one had made a gesture like that for him before.

When he stopped in front of him—he wasn't even sure when he started walking—Yami's eyes opened into slivers of blood that made his own warm in his veins. They were so dark, with shadows cast from the long lashes that had barely parted in order to give him a glimpse of the color beneath, and it was chilling to stare into them like Yugi was doing, but it warmed his blood further, made his heart beat a little faster.

And when he leaned forward to brush his lips against Yami's—and Yami knew this was what Yugi wanted to do because he wanted it too because his mouth felt like it was burning and Yugi was the oasis meant to put the fire out—it took all his strength to jerk his head away, banging it against the wall hard.

"What do you _want _from me, Yugi?" he muttered.

"What do I…?" Yugi trailed off, because he didn't _know _what he wanted, not really.

Yami's eyes were cold now, staring, glaring, burning beneath a layer of ice.

"Look, Yami, you don't _want _to love me, right?" He started out murmuring but ended up whispering and he didn't understand why, but that seemed more suited for the situation than just speaking like he had been before. "You don't fucking _want _to love me. You said it yourself. And you don't _want me _because I am pretty sure I would know if you did. So why do you claim that you do? Why do you make everything so complicated when it used to be good?"

"I don't think you know me well enough to say that, Yugi," he muttered, shaking his head. "I did say that I don't want to love you, but I do. And I can't change that and neither can you. And no, I don't want you because if I did, I would end up hurting myself _that _much worse than I already have so far. I never claimed I wanted you. But I will say that if you were to ask me if I wanted to _be with you _I would say yes. As for making everything so complicated, maybe it's because you've made everything so complicated for me and I'm just giving you a taste of that."

Yugi honestly didn't know what to say. Well, no, he did, he knew what he wanted to say, what he _should _say, but he was scared. And it was strange, because he wasn't scared of leading him on, it was because he was scared he would make Yami run.

And maybe that fear seemed stupid, but with Yami, he felt like he could never be very sure. Because the red-eyed boy's confusion was like a projector—it cast a total mind-fuck over anyone who was in close proximity and made them just as fucking confused as he was.

So he was scared.

And confused.

Just as confused as Yami.

And so he couldn't say anything.

"Fucked up, huh?"

Yugi tilted his head slightly and then said the first thing that came to mind. "Huh?" And he felt so brilliant because his mind was just _that _good under pressure.

Yami raised an eyebrow and then smirked slightly before shaking his head.

And for the first time, for whatever reason, Yugi's eyes flickered to Yami's wrist, blinking a few times when he realized that the brace was off; the red-eyed teen followed his gaze and then lifted it out of his jacket pocket, showing off the golden-bronze flesh of it.

Yugi watched it as he flipped his hand back and forth in the dim light before finally putting it back in his pocket a minute later.

"Tell me something," he suddenly blurted out, making him frown and stare in response. "Do you like her?"

The red gems narrowed into slits, an expression cold and blazing and holding him in place no matter how he fought to break free of the grip it possessed. "Who?"

"You know who."

Yami merely stared and then kicked off the wall, standing straight and watching him. "I love Mai," he replied quietly. "But I can't rewire my brain no matter how hard I try."

Yugi grimaced slightly and watched him closely for a moment before shaking his head and sighing. Everything would be so much easier if they could.

"Then why are you pretending she's your girlfriend? And why would you tell her about us…about you being…?" He trailed off as he watched Yami stare back at him blankly, not once giving away a single clue, before it started to click in his head. Yami wasn't answering not because he didn't deem the question unworthy of one, but because he was ashamed.

"Are you using her to make me _jealous_?"

Was it really that fucking obvious?

And how sick of a bastard did you have to be to use a girl who had fallen in love with you to try to make an asshole who _refused _to love you jealous?

"Well, if you must know, it is working," Yugi muttered, narrowing his eyes. "I'm so fucking jealous that half the time I want to tear her hair out. Just because she's there with you. And it's rather sickening, because I've never been jealous of anyone before, Yami. Especially not over something as stupid as this."

"So you weren't jealous when Tea used to flirt with me?" Yami questioned, narrowing his eyes, a hard prick of anger in his tone nearly blindsiding the smaller boy. "You never got jealous then?"

"No, I got mad. Because she ignored me. Because she was using me. It wasn't jealousy. Fuck, I used to think I was too. Until I realized I only ever got jealous because of _you_—because of you and _Mai_! No, I got mad because you ignored her like she ignored me and I felt bad for her. And I got mad because you used her and I thought it was to get back at me. And I got mad because I was _jealous _of that stupid bitch because you used her." Yugi was spitting and it felt like maybe he was about to foam at the mouth like a rabid canine, but he couldn't stop himself. "And, oh, I was so fucking jealous when you kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear and said she was your girlfriend on television. And I was so fucking _jealous _because you ignored me in favor of her and I never thought that you would do that. And I was jealous when you said you would hit another continent and I would never cross your mind but that was just because I wanted your attention. You make me so fucking jealous that I don't even know what the fuck I should do with myself."

Yami stayed quiet for a moment. "I know." And he did. Because when he couldn't stop himself from thinking about it, his mind would circulate around how many other fuck buddies Yugi had and the thought of him with them made his skin crawl and his heart hurt and rage boil through his veins. And he knew because the very thought of someone else with the smaller boy made his skin feel like lava. And he knew because he had never experienced this before because he had never had a _reason _to be jealous and yet this boy—the bad boy, the "slut", the "sex slave"—gave him one.

And it was sickening and wrong and it threw his mind out of balance. It made him do stupid things. It made him fight with a fractured wrist. It made him joke around with his cousins to make sure Yugi _knew _he would be okay without him. And it made him want to break Ushio's neck whenever he so much as _looked _at Yugi—no matter _how_.

It threw his pride back at him and tripled it in size. And it made his heart beat too fast, his mouth water with excess saliva because he stressed out about it, his hands tear at his hair where he knew a patch was shaved and he was using clips to hold some of his hair together to make it look like he wasn't bald there. Hell, he was starting to get irritated with even that now; in all honesty he was a second away from just coloring in his scalp with some Sharpie so that it wouldn't take up so much of his time in the mornings.

He leaned back against the wall again, tipped his head back to stare, once again so that his jaw line was highlighted and his eyes were shadowed with the blackness of his drooped eyelids.

And Yugi wasn't oblivious to the only thought in his head at that moment being the idea of kissing his neck and tasting his skin, nipping at his jaw and nuzzling his ear before sucking on his collarbone.

"You made us wait and made sure I was watching when you greeted Mai."

"I did."

"To make me jealous."

"Yes."

Yugi snickered softly, a snort of a noise, through his nose, shaking his head as he stared at him. "The moment you said she was coming, I should have just fucking left. But I didn't."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I guess I wanted to see how you would greet her without the cameras."

"I didn't mean it. What I said in front of the cameras. You know that. I don't want to be with her, I want _you_ because it's _always_ you."

Yugi chewed his cheek.

"I can't fucking do this anymore, Yugi."

His words were like a knife, like he had just stabbed him through the ribs and was cutting upwards slowly so that he could hear his bones breaking and his blood flooding through _while _feeling the burn of it.

"What? But you just said you wanted to—"

"I do. I want to be with you but you don't want to be with me. It's driving me crazy. _You _are fucking driving me crazy. And I can't do it anymore. I'm tired of it all. I want to sleep without having you in my head. I want to be able to think without you popping up. I want to eat without feeling like you could be there with me. I don't want to want you there constantly anymore. I want to do things on my own, without all of this shit."

Yugi didn't know what to say. No, that was a lie; he _did _know what to say. But terror and panic held him in a vice grip. Because he was so scared that if he said something, _anything_, Yami would turn away from him. He was scared of even _thinking _about what Yami had said—what it could mean for him, for them. He was scared of even _hoping _that he could change Yami's mind…that maybe this thing that Yami felt, that Yugi tried to ignore, could actually happen, could actually work.

And then, slowly, he realized that Yami was no longer looking at him, that he hadn't been for a while now, that his eyes were focused on something behind him, that now he stood straight and rigid with _aggression_. He watched him, studied his dark, barely blinking eyes, his pulsing jaw line, his expressionless face. And he could feel his own muscles preparing to grab him, to pull him back because whatever was behind him…

* * *

Yami was too distracted during the final math test of the semester so he knew for a fact that he was going to fail; he had a vague moment where he wondered why he was bothering. His parents had disowned him. He had told Yugi he loved him and Yugi had practically laughed at him…and with what happened with the concert…why the _fuck _did he _bother_?

He ignored it when a student came in and handed the teacher a note. He bubbled in another letter, leaning dejectedly on his left elbow, staring at the page blankly. He was so fucked…

"Mr. Sennen?"

Yami raised his head, curious and desperate for any kind of distraction from his thoughts, blinking once before stiffening when he caught the concerned eyes of his teacher.

"You are required to go to the principal's office…right away."

He nodded and packed up his things quickly, dropping his barely-touched test on his desk on the way past and wondered if it was a follow up to the paperwork he had signed on his first day back after being released from the hospital and thought guiltily of all the wallowing he had been doing after the concert instead of studying for the make up material they were constantly sending home with him now.

The secretary ushered him in urgently as soon as he opened the door to enter the office and not a second later he froze in place when he saw that Yugi was seated in front of the desk, looking confused and concerned; the smaller teen couldn't remember doing anything recently to get in trouble and he definitely didn't remember hearing about _Yami _doing something. Then again…

"Take a seat, Mr. Sennen."

The red-eyed teen clamped his jaw in an effort to keep from letting the awkwardness make his limbs turn to lead and dropped into his seat, leaning against the armrest furthest from Yugi.

"What's going on?" the blue-violet-eyed boy demanded, pretending that Yami's obvious reluctance to sit down hadn't hurt him. When the principal did not answer right away, it hit both of them that this was not about grades as both of them had honestly been hoping.

"This is a rather sensitive subject and I would appreciate it if we could possibly discuss it like adults. You boys…were seen this past weekend being intimate with each other," he said cautiously; Yami's brain started working at three times its normal rate, a million different thoughts trying to break through the recesses of his mind and become center focus. How could anyone have possibly seen them? They had been careful, hadn't they? His stomach twisted with realization.

The guy who had called his father. The one who had been following him. He had thought maybe that was the car but he hadn't seen the plates so he hadn't been sure. That must have been them. They must have seen everything before he even spotted them…

But they hadn't been doing anything intimate. They had merely gone to a concert. Nothing about it was intimate…unless they heard what they were saying…Yami was about to be sick.

"Now you obviously don't have to tell me anything but there have already been rumors running around this school and I thought it best to discuss it with you both now before things got even more out of hand."

Yami could not find it in himself to speak and Yugi was staring at the principal with a horrified expression.

"The school board feels that on this occasion it may be best for one or both of you to consider moving to a different school for your own safety."

Yami's muscles twitched and contracted against his shoulder blades and he knew without a doubt that if he opened his mouth, all hell would break loose; instead he clenched his jaw so tightly that it hurt and snatched his backpack off the ground, throwing the door open so harshly that it cracked against the plaster on the wall behind it and he heard the hinges creak in protest. He got out the front entrance, ignoring it when several of the staff called out for him to stop, and then got to the gates when Yugi caught up to him, stopping in front of him with a flushed expression, eyes wide and breathing heavily.

"At least…let me at least walk you home because I have to go home and call my grandpa, tell him about this before it gets out…"

Yami shrugged and then walked past him with a glare; Yugi immediately followed after him, hurrying to his side and putting his hands in his pockets. They did not speak until they got to the game shop in which Yugi started for the door and froze when Yami muttered, "He might have a point."

He spun around so fast that the key fell from his hand, eyes widening in surprise. "Huh?"

Yami glared at the ground where the key had fallen, almost as if it had offended him but he looked more tired than anything else. "Domino City isn't very big, so it might be safer if I were to move away for a little while until everything has settled down."

Yugi wanted to shout at him but then settled for glaring and speaking in a low voice. "I don't think that is a great idea. In case you've forgotten, we also have this project to do. Lucky for us he's even extending it until the next half of the semester. How are we supposed to get it done if you are gone—even for a few days? We haven't exactly been working on it."

"I can't ask you to move, Yugi. That's your grandfather's fucking shop. You have to tell him what's going on and I have to talk to Seto about getting transferred," he said firmly.

"No, because half of my grade depends on your ass right now," he snarled, desperation for Yami to take the statement back making his voice sharper than he had hoped. "This is just an idea, Yami, and we have to talk about it before we can do anything about it. You _aren't _the only one affected by this. Grandpa will be home later today anyways. Why don't I call you and you can come over when he does? He has the right to know what is going on and he could talk with us then about what we are going to do next."

Yami remained silent for a long minute and then nodded almost imperceptibly, voice barely audible and eyes still narrowed into a glare towards that single key on the ground. "Very well."

* * *

Yami got to the game shop four hours later, phone in hand and discussing options with his brunet cousin who had gone off the deep end with snarls; Yugi answered the door just as Seto hung up and Yami mentally cursed him a million different ways in Arabic and Japanese. Yugi led him upstairs into the living room and took a seat on the couch after the red-eyed teen had settled into a comfortable position.

"Yami," Solomon greeted him with a smile. "I'm glad you're here."

Yami dipped his head politely in greeting and then murmured, "Mr. Motou, thanks for helping out with this decision." His phone went off a second later and he stared at it in dread for a moment before silencing it.

Yugi leaned over and looked over his shoulder. "Kaiba's calling you."

"Yes, thank you, Yugi, I am aware of that."

Solomon smiled at this exchange and his grandson ignored Yami in persistence of pressing the accept button; the red-eyed teen went from looking at the elder man to jumping a mile when Seto's icy voice snarled into his left ear when Yugi held the phone up to it.

"That was completely reprehensible, he had no right to say anything and if he did want to ask you about your relationship he should have at _least _had a conference with family around for support. Fucking bastard."

Yami groaned and snatched the phone from his look-alike, grimacing as he murmured, "Cousin, I really hope Mokuba is not in the room with you" in Arabic, voice sharp and angry.

"Whatever." There was a pause and Yami distinctively heard him rustling through papers as he leaned back into the couch's backrest and narrowed his eyes. "What's the plan anyways?"

"I figured I would transfer," he said simply.

Both Solomon and Yugi immediately looked at him in alarm and he felt his stomach sink; of course they knew Arabic too. Why _wouldn't _they? Solomon went to Egypt often so it really should _not _have been a surprise. It was no wonder that he would teach Yugi when he was old enough to learn. But apparently he couldn't read it.

He wondered what the point was of the elderly Motou teaching Yugi to converse in it if he could not read it when it was clearly in his grasp.

Then again, Solomon was not his father and there was no parallel between the two that he could honestly find in order to draw a similarity. The most they had between them was gray hair and even that was different.

"What? _Why_?" his cousin demanded angrily.

Yami dragged a hand down his face and barked, "I do not have a single mark on my school record, Seto. I pretty much have a very open invitation to any school I wish to go to and my education is going to be funded for me. I can transfer and avoid any further scandal—"

"You cannot transfer, Yami, we discussed this earlier," Yugi snapped at him.

He shifted position, crossing his legs and narrowing his eyes in frustration. "Well I cannot be home schooled, Seto. I just can't. I could do online courses but—"

"You are not throwing away your education!"

"Yugi, shut up."

The smaller teen glared at him spitefully. "No, you shut up. I already told you! You can't get a transfer. The project is _half _our grade. If you don't do your half, I am totally screwed."

For a long time no one spoke and then finally Seto sighed, "When?"

"I don't know," he answered, narrowing his eyes.

"You don't have to do this, cousin. You don't have to go into hiding."

"I am not _hiding,_" Yami snapped viciously, glaring at the ground.

"Well you're not dropping out of school."

"I know that."

"Fine. I'll see you at the fucking conference tomorrow." He paused as if he could sense Yami's finger over the end button. "And don't fucking open your goddamn mouth."

"Love you too, jackass."

Seto snorted into the phone and hung up and Yami got up and walked out of the house without a glance at the two Motou's.

* * *

"I'll begin with my extreme _dissatisfaction _with the way my cousin has been treated. Your staff is supposed to be taking care of its students, not letting all of this go on. And don't tell me you're oblivious to the _shit _that has been going on," Seto started before they even got seated; Yami sunk his nails into his knees and clamped his jaw shut in an effort not to call him out on this fact. His cousin was on a roll—tired or not—and he was going to be on fire all day. "Yami's personal life is of no concern to this school but the fact that you have allowed all of the things that has happened is _sickening_. You should have put a stop to it all and I have _yet _to see you do so. _And_ I would like to know the source of this information you confronted them with yesterday."

Yami watched as their principal paled for a moment and then sighed softly, looking extremely embarrassed. "Mr. Kaiba, I do apologize for any distress caused. One of my faculty witnessed your…cousin"—both of them barely held back the snorts that threatened to come out due to his dubious expression, obviously unable to see any resemblance—"and Mr. Motou together on the weekend and were very uncomfortable with the thought of them continuing their relationship while in school for their own safety—they have asked for anonymity in the matter, but until this weekend, we were not aware if your cousin and Mr. Motou were truly seeing each other. We were aware of the rumors but it was all speculation."

"Oh, so speculation doesn't merit a little protection when the two of them are _obviously _being targeted?" Seto asked in a sickeningly sweet voice that Yami recognized as his "kill voice"; he always got this way before he used some backward method to catch his prey. "You would have to be _blind _in order not to see the bruises that Yami has gotten from this pathetic facility. And if he has bruises, then there is no doubt that Yugi has gotten them as well. Why pick on one and not the other? Don't insult my intelligence. You've seen them."

"Mr. Kaiba, are you sure you want me to continue?"

He almost told him to fucking surprise him but instead nodded at him curtly.

"Mr. Sennen and Mr. Motou were seen together kissing in public."

Huh? But they hadn't kissed. They had gotten close…Yugi cringed. They must have seen it when he _went_ to kiss Yami but had not seen him turn away from him at the last second.

"As I am sure you are aware, homosexuality is not a crime."

Yami cringed slightly. Oh Ra…

"No one is accusing them of any crime, Mr. Kaiba. However I have to listen to the concerns of my faculty and think about the boys' safety within the school—"

"Where exactly were you two on the weekend?" Solomon finally asked, turning to them and cutting the principal off.

Yugi couldn't help but grin slightly. "Tokyo."

Yami shifted uncomfortably in his seat and stared at the desk.

"Yami will not attend any further classes at this school for the next two weeks. I am pulling him with immediate effect for the time being. Yugi will be staying here and I am making it _your _responsibility that word of his sexual orientation and relationship status does not become even _more _of a talking point amongst faculty or students. Do _not _doubt my anger on the subject and I will take this as far as I can if I feel he is discriminated against in any way."

Dear Ra, did all of his cousins know? Yami chewed his cheek. Bakura would never have told them. Loyalty was drilled into him. If he was going to tell them, he would have asked him first. And aside from that, unless he was using it as a joke, he wouldn't have even bothered to think about it again anytime soon.

But Seto wouldn't even give a fuck about Yugi or if he got kicked around if he didn't know. So either he was the most obvious person in the world or Bakura had told them. And neither of those seemed likely. So maybe Seto just understood him that well.

That wouldn't be too terribly surprising.

There was a reason the two of them always fell into a pair like they did when they were all arguing.

"Mr. Motou, do you have anything else you would like to add?"

"No."

"In which case Yugi will be leaving with us this morning but will be back tomorrow. Good day."

Yami immediately got up and followed his cousin who was practically out the door before the other three realized it was the end of the meeting; Yugi and Solomon hurried after them to find Yami and Seto in the parking lot, leaning against his black Mercedes.

"What the fuck was that?" Yami demanded angrily. "I said I was going to _transfer_!"

"Yeah, well now you're not."

"What the _fuck,_ Seto!"

His cousin ignored his furious glare to look at his phone, pointedly waiting for some kind of voiced gratification. Yami was five seconds from choking him to death when the brunet suddenly leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Think about it for a minute, cousin. You're going to leave Yugi completely defenseless to save your ass? Aren't you tired of running yet? You've been stuck here for two years in order to avoid the stupid crap back in Egypt. Don't you ever get tired of having to move around for others?"

He was playing with his pride and Yami's ego rippled with the blow before unifying and tripling.

"Very well," he agreed through his teeth, glaring at him coldly for a moment. "Two weeks."

Seto barely hid the smirk in his eyes but managed to nod at him while Yami stared at him in complete distaste. The look on his face clearly boasted he had won and Yami wanted to slap it off his face but that was the way they were with each other; their egos flared and grew tenfold when they butted heads and they did it so often it was a wonder that their heads were not twenty times their size.

Yami did hate the fact that Seto would not let this go, however. He would hold it over his head for as long as he wanted. It was what his cousin did. He was so used to being a CEO that outside of the office he did not seem to know how to turn it off. When one gave in to his demands, he would keep it like Yami did his grudges—in the back of the mind, always there to pull back to the center when they had alone time, the focal point of attention for select amounts of time, always nurtured in the darkness.

An argument with Seto over something small and unrelated and his cousin would pull it out like a secret weapon. He would say that he had been the one to suggest the solution and that Yami should be grateful that he had done so. That was how his cousin worked. He took what he won and accomplished and he threw it back in your face when you dared to challenge him.

"I suppose I should thank you."

This time the smirk pulled his mouth up and Yami curled his lip back in distaste, showing off his sharp canines; out of the family, it was only Seto and Mokuba who seemed to not have sharper-than-average teeth.

"You're welcome."

Smug bastard. Yami wanted to punch him but instead fisted his hands in his jacket pockets, eyes blazing with anger while his cousin smirked wider and then got into his car and drove off without a second glance. Yami couldn't help it when he pulled his hands out, middle fingers flying up; he stared in shock when Seto actually stuck his hand out the window and shot him a bird in response.

Well fuck.

* * *

"So what do you actually plan on doing?" Yugi wondered as he stepped around the table to face him; Yami ignored him for a moment and then pulled out something from his backpack that gleamed and glistened like gold and left his mouth falling open in shock. Was that what he thought it was?

Yami pushed it away and pulled out a small box before pushing it over with the other thing and then plopped down in a seat, grabbing it and pulling it over his head. "I don't know yet."

"Is that…?"

"The Millennium Puzzle, yes." He looked it over for a moment and then turned away again. "I keep it with me at all times. It's my good luck charm."

"You didn't have it at the concert."

"No, but I had the eye with me." He held the golden upside down pyramid and tapped the center piece, the carving of an eye, before putting it down to rest again. "The Puzzle is supposed to grant protection or something. That's the idea, anyways. The pharaoh Atem wore it to protect himself and the rest of Egypt. Imagine how bad it felt to have my father hand it to me to put back together again when I was only three."

Yugi felt his eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

"Anyways, back to the matter at hand. I don't know what the hell I'm going to do yet. I have to think it over." He sighed and the Puzzle felt heavy when he leaned forward and put his left elbow on the table, supporting his chin with his palm; idly he reached over and messed with the box that he had put down with it so that golden carvings and dark red-black velvet stared back at him. "I'm thinking about just doing online. It would be easiest. Everything would die down before it could start up again."

"Nothing is going to die down if you back out like a coward—what is that box?"

"It held the Millennium Puzzle. It was found in Pharaoh Atem's tomb."

Yugi stared for a moment. His grandfather once told him that he had seen this box but when he had tried to bring it back to Japan with him when Yugi was a toddler—he'd left Professor Hawkins to take care of Yugi that year because he was actually getting paid for this and the money would help out drastically—he had been forced to leave it at the airport. Did Yami's father have something to do with that?

"Can I see it?"

Yami looked at it for the longest time and then slowly pushed it over. "Don't take any of them."

"What?" he muttered, but Yami waved him off dismissively and Yugi peeked inside only to go impossibly wide-eyed. Sitting there were Duel Monsters cards and the one on the top? Orisis the Sky God. He pulled the deck out and looked it over, gawking when he found Obelisk the Tormentor and the Winged Dragon of Ra right behind the two-mouthed dragon.

"The Egyptian God cards."

"Yep."

Yami didn't sound very enthusiastic. He sounded bored.

Yugi gave him a confused look and then blinked before shrugging and looking the deck over again; he had a lot of these cards—in fact, it looked almost like the deck he had constructed with his grandpa's help when he was younger. Silver Fang, Feral Imp, the Exodia pieces, Summoned Skull, Magical Horn, Enchanted Elf, Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, Kuriboh, Multiply, Gaia the Fierce Knight, Gaia the Dragon Champion, Curse of Dragon, the Full Moon card, the Burning Land card, Book of Spells, Magical Hats, Winged Dragon Guardian of the Fortress, Mammoth Graveyard, Swords of Revealing Light, Monster Reborn, Time Wizard, Baby Dragon, Thousand Year Dragon…but then he also had the rare Red-Eyes Black Dragon, the even rarer Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Toon Town, Relinquished, Red-Eyes Black Skull Dragon…

"Wow, you have a really nice deck."

Yami made a noncommittal noise and Yugi would have snapped at him that it was a compliment not to be ignored, but Yami was busy playing with the golden links of the chain around his neck, tangling his fingers in it subconsciously.

Yami wasn't even there with him.

Yugi rolled his eyes and put the cards back in the box before closing the lid gently and pushing it forward; Yami didn't react to it until a minute had passed and then finally he went to grab it but ended up staring at his fingers which turned red when he didn't untangle them before reaching. Rather than untangling his fingers, he just grabbed it with his other hand.

"You know you're being a coward if you do online, right?"

"Better a coward than a fool."

"In your case you would be a foolish coward."

"I would not."

"Yes you would. Now what the fuck are you going to do? Because you can't just ditch me to do the rest of his project. And if you quit school for online…"

"I wouldn't be ditching you. I would help you finish it. I'm not that cruel, Yugi."

He barked out a laugh. "Um, yes, actually, you kind of are."

Yami gave him a glare and then got up and Yugi could see that the Puzzle's chain was longer than he had initially thought because the pendant itself rested against his stomach when he stood at his full height.

"I'm the cruel one. Right."

"Excuse me? I am not cruel, you asshole. You are."

"Explain to me, how exactly I am the cruel one, Yugi."

"You're the one who is threatening to ditch me completely at school."

Yami opened his mouth to bite back but then slowly closed it and looked at him for a long time. Yugi wasn't worried about the project. Not at all. That was just a lame excuse. No, Yugi was worried about Yami not being in his life anymore. Right now, even as fucked up as it was with how they acted towards one another, Yami was the only constant in his life. And, because of everything that had happened, his only friend.

Yugi wasn't worried about a bad grade at all. He was worried about being left alone completely.

Yami opened his mouth again but the sound of a clicking like the doorknob being twisted made his head snap around, freezing in place for a moment before reaching out for a knife from where it lay a few inches away from the Puzzle's box, left out from when he had dropped it on the table and been too lazy to pick it up again that morning.

Ha, maybe laziness had its perks sometimes.

Yugi didn't notice because he was standing up and staring.

Yami's fingers gripped the handle, slid it silently across the table, grabbing it hard in a grasp like iron and got ready to stab if he had to.

"Yami."

Just like that, he was breathing again, the knife was once again left on the table as he turned his head and looked at his brunet cousin who walked right past Yugi and handed him a stack of papers inside of a black plastic folder with multiple pockets; Yami didn't do the usual of asking what it was and instead peeked inside before putting it down.

"So it's actually going to happen?"

Neither Seto nor Yugi missed the way that his voice came out a little overwhelmed.

"It will be official that you are suing your parents for the physical abuse that you were put through in order to be put in the hospital."

Those red eyes flickered to the folder and regarded it like some kind of snake that might strike out at any moment, turning back to his cousin. "Thank you," he muttered.

"Are you going to look it over?"

"Yes, but when I'm alone." He paused and then gave the taller boy a smile. "Which reminds me, would you take Yugi with you?"

Yugi gawked and Seto gave Yami a vastly petulant look.

Yami waved a hand dismissively and Seto growled softly but then smirked and rolled his eyes, shaking his head before glaring at Yugi who opened and closed his mouth and then finally turned and started walking off; his legs were too long for him to try to fight like he had Yami. Much too tall.

Yugi grimaced, spinning around suddenly. "When are you coming back?"

"Friday after next."

"Oh." He paused and his voice came out horribly hopeful; self-hatred flowed through him at his own words. "Will you be there for all your classes?"

Yami didn't look up and he didn't look pleased with Yugi's question, leaning back slightly and flipping open the black folder to look at the sheets inside before replying with a soft "I don't know yet. I was thinking of skipping my first half of the day and just going for the other half."

Yugi cursed under his breath, too low for Yami to hear; if he did that, it meant that they would not see each other at all. For whatever reason, that thought threw him for a loop and he hated it.

* * *

Yami spent the entirety of his two weeks out of school just wandering the house, somehow always finding that folder nearby. The Puzzle would flash with warmth or cold chills when he felt something strong enough, and even though it was alarmingly weird, it made him feel better.

But the dreams it gave him—when he passed out on the couch on his back one night—left him feeling weird and sick, sticky with sweat and panting for air while his throat felt like sandpaper when he swallowed.

It was the same dream almost every time. Sometimes there were background noises and other times there weren't. Sometimes he could hear cries and sometimes he just felt like something was covering him.

Sometimes there was color—deep sunlight, too bright—and sometimes there was just darkness and the sensation of something closing in on him.

But every time, he woke up sweating and feeling sick to his stomach with a scratchy throat and a blank stare to his face.

It was the final day of these two weeks that Yami put the Puzzle in his backpack and took the papers with him to the Kaiba Corp headquarters to speak to his cousin; because he had never truly been there before, the secretary gave him a bland bored look and told him to take a seat, that Seto would be there when he felt like it.

When Yami pointed out being his cousin, she laughed in his face, said they looked nothing alike, played with the computer, and then said that so many people claimed to be his family in order to see him sooner it wasn't even funny. And then she was screaming at him when he knocked on the door twice before throwing it open.

Seto looked up and the secretary started apologizing until she was blue in the face while Yami gave her a disdainful look, turned to his cousin, and said, "I want her fired."

The brunet burst out laughing while she looked terrified. He had to admit that the idea was appealing but she was the only secretary that didn't want to give him a "fun time" and he would rather have her there than the others who had thrown themselves at him. It was really the only reason the clueless redhead was still there because he knew her "work" behind that desk was really just her chatting with her American boyfriend online.

"So, what are you doing here, Yami?"

He pulled the folder from his canvas bag and held it out. "I looked them over." He paused and then gave the secretary—who was still standing there with wide eyes—a sharp look, snapping, "Get the fuck out of here already."

She scurried and then fled behind her desk while he rolled his eyes and closed the door, watching the brunet who opened the folder and looked it over.

"Tell…Rafael, was it?"—Seto nodded without looking up—"that I want to drop the charges."

"What the fuck?" Seto snapped, looked up at him incredulously before glaring coldly. "Yami—"

"I'm going to give my father a chance to back off. If not, then I will take legal actions against him. But I don't want to harm my mom and she would be devastated if I were to do this to him. No, I will drop it only if he agrees to stay out of my life permanently. If he agrees, dismiss it. If he doesn't…sue his ass for all he's worth."

* * *

Yami couldn't really even pretend to be surprised by his arrival because he'd planning for it since before he was even out of the hospital because he knew he would come back again, just to try his hand at forcing him to change and bend to his will. He didn't look up when he entered the room and he didn't take a seat either, standing next to the table and writing some things on his homework assignment before letting out a small hum.

"Hello, father."

Ambassador Aknamkanon appraised him darkly for a moment but Yami didn't bother looking up even then, still writing before finally putting his pencil down and straightening to his full height, regarding him coldly.

"Have you come to talk to me about the shame I brought upon the family? Or are you here about the lawsuit? Either one really only spells trouble for you. Have you noticed that?"

He stood rigidly, indifferently, glaring. "You truly are a disgrace."

"I thought we already established that, father. I'm rather tired of these repetitions. I do have things to do. I don't have time to play memory games with you."

"I am your—"

"Father, yes." Yami picked up the knife so fast it sent the ambassador stepping back and dropping his raised hand. "But you're trespassing. I am emancipated. By all law you shouldn't even be here. I could cut you into a million pieces and sprinkle you in the grass and it would be called _self-defense_."

Ambassador Aknamkanon glowered. "You don't have it in you."

"I have a lot in me. But you're right. I won't hurt you. Not until you give me reason to. And the last sixteen years don't count. Give me a reason to now and you'll see the monster you turned me into." He pressed the knife's tip into his left index finger, tapping the blade thoughtfully against a small drop of blood that started to bubble up there. "Just one reason. It's that simple. Easy, even. _One. Reason._"

"You dare to threaten your own father?"

"Call it what you like, but it's a more of a promise."

Ambassador Aknamkanon looked his son over for a moment and then his eyes lingered on the Puzzle. How long had this been completed? Had Yami been granted Atem's powers? As his eyes scraped over him again, he decided that he must have been, because otherwise he would not be standing before him as he was now.

No, before, Yami had cowered like a three-year-old while trying to escape his wrath which he brought upon himself. And now he stood tall and dangerous, a knife in his hand, staring at him darkly, waiting for him to make some kind of move.

And the only difference between the two situations was that single Puzzle.

And the knife—but that was hardly important.

Because even if the knife had been there, Yami would never have turned against him.

It had to be the Puzzle.

"I see you've done at least one thing right with your life."

"Get your filthy eyes off my Puzzle," Yami spat back. "Why are you here?"

"Your mother wished for me to speak some sense into you but I can see you're already too far gone."

"You have yourself to blame for that, father. You're the one who made me into a monster." He spun the knife in his grip lazily, not even flinching when he threw it up in the air and caught it by the blade, tilting his head and looking at him curiously. "You don't think I would use it if you forced my hand? You are a fool."

Ambassador Aknamkanon ignored him for a moment and walked around the table, smirking. "I knew you would never amount to anything. You were born wrong. Too soon. You were meant to be born on the eclipse. Instead you were born on the full moon. There was always something wrong with you, Atem."

Yami stared for a moment and then narrowed his eyes; he remembered on his birthdays his father always mentioned that he was born early, a day early, but he acted as if it was the end of the world. He remembered growing up and hearing that the pharaoh Atem had been born on the eclipse and Yami was supposed to be as well, his father claiming that the date he was _supposed _to have been born would have bestowed upon him strength and power beyond his wildest dreams. That superstition had grown to the point of being a bane of his existence; he looked liked Atem, he was almost born to the same "sign" as Atem, and all because his father was the descendant of the monarchs. "My name is Yami."

"You were born Atem and that is what I will call you!" he yelled.

"I was born your son but you don't consider me that. Why would you have the right to call me by my birth name if you cannot find it in yourself to call me your son, Aknamkanon?"

He raised a hand but Yami's knife hand was at the ready before he could blink and so he backed off. "Do not call me by that name. You have no right."

"Just as you honestly have no right to call me by either of my names," Yami said with a cruel smirk. "You know, people used to say that the solver of the Puzzle would go crazy. But I think I might have been born with it. I mean…you are my father. It would make so much sense."

"You've broken your mother's heart."

At this Yami went rigid but then narrowed his eyes into slits.

"She has spent her days praying to Ra that you will change your ways so that she may hold you again."

The fingers gripping the knife loosened and then tightened almost imperceptibly.

"She has prayed to every deity that you will become the son that we raised you to be."

"I am a product of my environment," Yami replied. "It matters not who I spend my time with when it is your fault I was born this way."

"You were not _born _this way!" he snarled. "You _became _a failure. You were not one before you left Egypt! Time spent here has left you weak and stupid."

"Time spent here…" Yami echoed softly, looking at the knife in his hand. "Time spent here…has made me realize just how wrong my childhood was. You don't just do those kinds of things to a child. How old was I when this first started? You said something about two months last time?"

"What?"

"Did I ever mention that I got my memory back?"

"You little bastard."

"You're my father aren't you? Then I'm not a bastard child. Although, you could just go ahead and say that in front of the whole world. It wouldn't really surprise anyone."

He opened his mouth but was cut off when Yami stabbed an apple from the fruit bowl, pulling it out with the blade through its center with a smirk before dropping it on the table and starting to cut it.

"Daddy's little monster. That should be my theme song. Daddy's little monster. A nickname, maybe." He chopped off another piece and scooped it off the blade with his teeth. "Did I ever tell you about my talent, father?"

Dear Ra, his talent…he remembered how his mother wept for him when she found out about it.

"Your mother cried over it."

"Yes, oh how she wept for me," he murmured, grabbing another slice of apple with the blade. "But honestly, father, have you got something to say that I haven't already heard a million times before?"

The door opened and both of them froze and turned their heads towards the noise, Yami going wide-eyed and Aknamkanon staring with a furious gaze.


	15. I Understand

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Note: Story will be updated every Wednesday**

**Warning: TONS of cursing throughout story**

**Chapter Warning: Chapter is rated MA (Mature Adult) for sexual content (lemon), partial Season 0 Yami, fear of insanity, underage drinking, rape attempt and implied sexual intercourse**

**Lemon Warning: Semi-dark lemon. SOME Season 0 Yami is involved in it. ****If you want to skip the lemon, don't read past the statement "I say we fuck the memories out of my head" until you reach the statement "Leave". If you don't think you're going to remember that, use F and Ctrl and type both phrases in, then delete the first phrase when you come up to it and use the Find function to get to the second part where the lemon is finished.**

**Lemon Note: The lemon actually serves a MAJOR purpose in this chapter and later in story.**

**Season 0 Yami Warning: Season 0 Yami makes an appearance for some of chapter.**

**Insanity Warning: Brief considerations that character is going insane. Nothing too graphic.**

**Drinking Warning: Underage drinking is indulged at gay bar.**

**Rape Attempt Warning: Not too graphic. Mostly just a conversation turned wrong and a fight.**

**Implied Sex Warning: Nothing graphic.**

Chapter XV: I Understand

What the actual fuck?

Ra, did he always have to have such bad timing?

Couldn't he just _once _pick a good fucking time to show up unannounced?

Yami still couldn't move the blade away from his mouth, eyes wide and unblinking, owlish in expression and looking somewhat shocked, and Ambassador Aknamkanon had his eyes narrowed into a furious glare, his dark gray-brown gaze seeming to bore into his skin with shock.

It was kind of comical in a dark sense.

And that was exactly why he nearly burst out laughing.

Apple juice splattered from the blade like blood and if Yami were an apple, he would have been worried. But those red eyes, owlish and unblinking and so stunned, with that knife and an apple slice he had his mouth open to bite into, that was hilarious.

Oh the other hand…Ambassador Aknamkanon? Not so much.

"Oh, is this the little slut?" he growled.

And Yugi backed up with wide eyes, because that voice, that tone, made his skin crawl and now there were pieces falling into place. Oh holy shit, Seto wasn't kidding when he said that Yami's father was the one who put him in the hospital. And Yami's suspicions were definitely right. He looked like he wanted to beat him to a pulp.

"Father, if you touch him, I will be forced to take action," Yami muttered, taking his slice of apple and suddenly going back into motion, licking the blade clean of juice as the ambassador approached Yugi slowly. "That's your only warning."

And the ambassador stopped short to slowly turn his head, a small bit of fear in his eyes. And Yugi had to wonder what the fuck he had to fear from Yami when the boy hadn't been able to stop him before.

Yami made a purring noise and licked off some more juice left behind by his other apple slice, looking at his father pointedly. It was enough to make Yugi shiver in fear and his father stay as he was, frozen. When he got up, his father backed up a step as the taller teen strode towards him, pointing the knife lazily towards his heart. "I think it's about time you hit the road before something we regret were to happen, don't you?" He pressed the tip against his clothing and his father paled before backing up a step; Yami gestured towards the door, sliding the knife up and down his torso, muttering, "I can list off your vital organs. And I can stab through them like butter. It'd be fun, father. Want to play? You have five minutes to get the fuck out of my house before I do it."

For a moment he didn't answer or even move.

"I think maybe I'll split your stomach open first. Let your intestines fall out." He made a swiping motion with the knife before humming and then pressing it just above the belt, moving it as he continued listing off organs. "Here is your spleen—not really vital, but it's still there. Your liver—you know it's the only organ that regenerates? Pancreas—not vital, but it could be fun to cut out—"

And then the ambassador turned and strode towards the door with what little dignity he had left while Yami watched him with sharp eyes, waving the knife at him.

"Bye. Remember to bring a better conversation topic next time. I'm rather bored with the current."

As soon as he was gone, Yami rounded on Yugi, pointing the knife at him for a moment, studying him before turning away and tossing it onto the table with a small backwards glance at the wood. "Yugi, what the hell are you even doing here?" he murmured, and he sounded so tired it was amazing he had even just done what he did.

Yugi opened his mouth, not to answer but to ask if he was okay, but never got the words out because Yami spun around and suddenly grabbed him, pulling him straight into him. Yugi stumbled against him, the Puzzle hard as it hit his stomach, and moaned as Yami's mouth moved against his and a tongue sought his as a playmate.

His hands unconsciously grabbed at his arms to steady himself because the Puzzle in his abdomen kind of hurt. It was a lot sharper in edges than he had originally thought. It had looked a little blunt from where he was standing a few seconds ago, but now he knew the edges were like razors, that the flat sides were sharp where they joined. And the chain was so thick…

Honestly, how the fuck had Yami even managed to not notice when he got his fingers caught?

But holy fuck, the Puzzle was burning. It burned through his shirt and left his stomach searing, not with pain but with a strange sense of accomplishment, perhaps?

Either way, it burned and left him feeling warm and strange and so…oddly wonderful. It was one of those moments where he could melt into something without even really caring that he shouldn't.

And he knew he shouldn't, because this seemed like one of those times where he was supposed to push Yami away, to put some distance between them, but he wanted this just as badly as he did.

He wanted a distraction and that was what Yami sought too.

Otherwise, this wouldn't be happening.

"I say we fuck the memories out of my head," Yami growled against his lips when he pulled back to breathe some, mouth still extremely close to Yugi's.

Yugi laughed and nodded vigorously, gazing into hooded red eyes that seemed to bleed with the darkness of their pupils, that off-colored tint of blackish-gray swirling and discoloring them further. "Sounds like a plan."

Yami snatched his arm and led the way eagerly upstairs where Yugi was promptly thrown onto a mattress with a plush red comforter and what seemed like a million pillows.

"My mom likes to buy pillows," he muttered as an explanation when Yugi literally pulled away from him to twist his head around and look at them all, eyes wide; when he looked back Yami was giving him an impatient look.

And just as Yugi was about to get his jacket off, the phone started ringing.

"Ignore it," Yami breathed against his mouth as his hips ground into Yugi's; so he did, grabbing at Yami's shoulders as he slipped the jacket off and prepared to take his shirt off, only to stop short when the ringing did not stop. In fact, the more they ignored it and the longer it rang, the louder it got.

Yugi pulled away slightly to look at the little white device and a growl of "Yugi" made him turn back long enough to bunch Yami's shirt up in his hands and pull it over his head as the taller teen wanted.

"Fucking—Yami, I can't think with that stupid thing droning on and on like that!" he cried, annoyed.

Yami let out a snarl of pure rage and then snatched it from where it was charging before barking, "What the fuck do you _want_, Bakura?"

Yugi went bug-eyed when Yami pressed harder into him while undoing the belts on his pants with only one hand, glaring at the device in his hand and slipping the rest of his clothes off while Bakura said whatever it was he was saying.

"I don't know," he snapped, "tomorrow maybe? Look, can't help you. I have to go."

Yugi was startled when Yami gave him a look and gestured for him to get his clothes off, hurrying to abide by his wishes as fast as he possibly could. He was stripping of his own pants and boxers when Yami spoke again.

"I said I have to—because I'm trying to fuck Yugi, damn it!"

Yugi's mouth fell open as Yami hung up, putting the phone back in place and turning to him again with a wide smirk.

"We…really need to work on your censorship," the smaller boy muttered before shaking his head in a daze and quickly pulling his clothes off the rest of the way, watching as Yami twisted off him to let him get the jeans off and throw them down on the floor.

"You should work on yours," Yami replied gruffly as he got between his legs again, a finger entering him before he could even think straight.

Yugi snorted. "It never works."

"Admittedly, I've never tried it, but whatever. I could have censored if I wanted to."

Yugi let out another snort. "Right, Yami."

"I could. I haven't exactly cursed around you nearly as much as you do me," he responded—or at least he didn't think he did…did he? Yami thought back for a moment and then rolled his eyes before pressing a second finger inside of him.

"…Yeah, that's probably true," the smaller boy admitted around a loud mewl.

He pressed a third finger into him and Yugi squirmed because this seemed a lot faster than the normal pace but he was okay with that—he was, but holy fuck, he wasn't used to being prepped so quickly.

"Tell me something Yugi."

It sounded simple and casual enough a statement, but his next words tore that up completely.

"How do the others fuck you?"

He blinked wide eyes and moaned when Yami pressed into him almost immediately after taking his fingers away, baring his teeth next to his ear, growling softly. "Do they pound you? Or is it one of those slow and steady things? I bet I can do it better."

Yugi squirmed, surprised, shocked, and so turned on it hurt like all hell. His hand shot up to grab at Yami's hair, moaning softly once before bucking wildly against his penis, striking a bubble of need and control that burst inside of the taller teen.

"Maybe you pound them," Yami said softly before gliding his right canine over his soft baby-fat cheek, nipping with his bottom canine and pulling slightly before baring his teeth against his ear and growling loudly, the noise making him tremble and move faster. "Do they tie you up? I bet you've been cuffed a couple of times. Maybe even participated in a threesome? Hmm…"

Yugi grabbed at his shoulder and exposed his neck for Yami to nip at. One of the soft bites made him yelp and squirm, eyes widening in surprise as he realized Yami had broken skin.

"I wonder how many marks you've been given…"

When Yami suddenly pulled back and bared his teeth at him, Yugi blinked a few times, startled by the action and definitely caught off guard by the fact that he was no longer filled, hissing in annoyance. "Well?" Yami spat at him, his teeth gleaming with a small bit of his blood and tons of saliva mixed with the natural lighting the window fed the room. "Tell me."

Yugi wasn't exactly sure why he decided that he was going to manipulate Yami into giving him exactly what he wanted, not when this darkness that he was showing, so like that day in his room after reading his text messages, scared the crap out of him, but that was what he ended up doing. "They fuck me hard and fast and they pound me into the mattress until I'm too tired to even breathe," he hissed back, smirking when the taller boy's lip curled back slightly. "I fuck them until they can't walk anymore. And I honestly don't think you _could _do better than them."

Yami grabbed him hard, fingertips definitely going to leave bruises, roughly pushing him further into the pillows with the force of the lunge, snapping his hips forward and making him cry out in surprise at the intrusion.

Yugi tried to press his lips against his again but Yami turned his face away each time, sometimes burying it into his neck and licking at the bite mark he had left while never once faltering in his too-fast-too-hard thrusts. But even with his nails digging into his shoulder, and his hand ripping at his hair, the smaller boy managed to meet him thrust for thrust, moaning loudly and bordering on screaming when his prostate was struck.

It seemed the faster and harder Yami snapped his hips inside him, the higher Yugi's legs wrapped around his back, and the further up the bed they moved, because, not even a full minute into it, Yugi's head hit the bed's headboard and he pressed hard against it while the pillows fell and hit the ground soundlessly from either side.

Yugi wasn't sure what he was doing at first, but the change of position—the smallest, tiniest turn of his body, his face leaving his neck—made his eyelids flicker and his eyes shoot open wide in shock; Yami pressed his hand against the board and then slipped it up to the top, not bothering with the other which held his hips down against the mattress.

The bed was squeaking and it was a little irritating, but Yugi could ignore it, especially when Yami lowered his eyes towards his and narrowed them into slits, not once bothering to slow his pace.

The sound of skin slapping and the glistening sheen of sweat on their bodies and the moaning and borderline screams made it a lot harder than either of them had anticipated when it came to lasting.

But, on the plus side, the coils snapped in them both at the same time. Yami throbbed and emptied out in him while his own came in thick ribbons and coated them both; the taller teen pressed his forehead into the headboard, breathing hard.

Fuck, Yugi's legs felt like jelly and he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to sit for at least a week…

He'd need one of those donut things—inflation tubes…

"Where…the _fuck_…did _that_…come from?" Yugi hissed, panting and looking at him with wide eyes; Yami gave him a single look before closing his eyes and going back to steadying his breathing, shaking his head slightly.

Well, fuck, was that what happened when Yami got curious about his other—very _fake_—fuck buddies? Ooh.

Well, that could work in his favor.

"Holy shit…I think I fucking love you right now."

Yami didn't react like he thought he would. He had expected him to laugh, but instead he was met with a cold, cruel sneer. "Right."

"I was referring to your dick, Yami," he snapped.

Yami rolled his eyes and shook his head. "We can't do this shit anymore."

Yugi didn't bother pointing out that he didn't pull away even as he said this, that he didn't pull out, that his flaccid penis was still very much inside him. "Oh, bullshit, Yami. It's not my fault you misinterpreted."

"Yugi, shut up already. I'm really not in the mood to hear whatever the fuck you want to say. Obviously the idea of us ever being together is your hard limit. If you're so fucking terrified—"

"Hard limit?" Yugi asked, laughing once. "This isn't some kind of BDSM experiment because you sure as fuck would not be my dominant."

"You know, you joke about every little thing you can get your fucking hands on, Yugi, but this isn't a fucking joke to me. It's a slap in the fucking face."

Yugi grimaced. "Yami, I'm—"

"Shut up."

"Would you just give me a second to explain?"

"Why should I listen to anything you say anymore?" the red-eyed teen spat, shaking his head but still not moving away. "You say and imply enough."

"I—I didn't think before I said it. That's all."

"Yugi, whether the fuck it was in the moment or not, the tone of your voice and the look in your eyes said it all. So, don't worry. I'll find a way to get over you."

Yugi opened and closed his mouth but ended up closing his eyes after a moment as well, chewing his cheek thoughtfully.

"I don't want to be fucking used anymore," Yami said suddenly, making him open his eyes and stare at a pair of red that blazed right through him. "It's pathetic and I feel like shit every time."

"I'm not using you!" Yugi protested incredulously. "In fact, you're the one who tops most often. If anyone is using the other, it's you using _me_!"

Yami bared his teeth for a moment before looking away again. "I wonder if they all feel like this afterwards," he muttered under his breath.

Yugi was about to say they all probably felt like they fucking rocked his world or had theirs rocked, but then reconsidered as he really didn't want to fucking deal with it anymore, feeling sick to his stomach with the pain that radiated off the taller teen. And then he felt disgusting because the only thought that crossed his mind was nothing of an apology but came out as a sneer of _Well, you're the only one so I guess they all do_.

And that was something that he had to be ashamed of because it was so _wrong_.

"You know, you're blowing this out of proportion. It was just playful pillow talk," Yugi found himself complaining before he really thought it through, going bug-eyed when Yami turned his head and seemed to breathe hard through his nose before closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"I'm so done with this bullshit. I'm done putting up with all the shit you put me through, Yugi. I'm so sorry that you apparently seem to be _allergic _to even the word love, but it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with you. For a while there I was convinced it was me, but it's all _you_!" he spat, glaring and baring his teeth. "I admit that sometimes I overreact to some things but I'm pretty sure you would be reacting the same way if you were in my shoes."

"But I'm smart and that's why I'm _not _in your fucking shoes, Yami, because I didn't let myself get attached!" Yugi yelled.

"What the fuck is _wrong _with you?" Yami growled softly. "You tell me I don't know what love is, but do _you_?"

"Look, I don't _need _you telling me how big of an asshole I am, Yami. I am well aware, okay?" Yugi spat.

"Don't get fucking smartass with me, idiot. Ra fucking—did your mom and dad slam your goddamned head in a solid oak door when you were a baby?"

He was hissing and Yugi was glaring, but both of them were hardening.

"The saying is dropping a child on its head—"

"I am not so stupid that I don't know that! I am just more fucking original than that."

Yugi made a scoffing noise and then shook his head. "You wish you were above the rest of us, don't you?"

"Don't fucking mess with me right now, Yugi."

"Ha, but isn't that what you've been doing to me this entire time, Yami? Are you too good to have it thrown back in your—" The cry that left his lips sounded almost akin to a scream but not quite there, not that Yami wanted that anyways; he had sensitive ears as it was. He didn't need Yugi's loud pitch to completely screw him over later. Yugi shot him a furious look. "That's dirty, Yami."

Yami sneered at him but didn't say anything for a long minute. "I think we might have ruined my bedspread."

That had to be the weirdest thing Yugi had ever heard in his life.

Yami had liked that color.

"Oh well." When he jerked backwards and pulled Yugi with him, the smaller boy yelped in surprise at the sudden falling sensation, grabbing at him with wide eyes before letting out a small breath of relief that was barely audible to even him as Yami steadied them so that he was sitting back on his knees with Yugi straddling his lap.

Yugi was tired, yes, but not enough to miss out on the sensation of Yami pulling him up to drive him back down just as fast, the movements making him hiss and moan as he grabbed at his shoulders harder with his nails.

But the studious light to the red eyes said that Yami knew about his little fear of falling, and that was why those lips were pulled back smugly as his movements continued. He wasn't laughing at him, but he was saying that Yugi should have known better than to think he would let him fall.

Yugi's heart squeezed a little, pain burning through the pleasure for a split second, but it was gone just as fast when nails bit in his shoulder blade and he let out a yelp that blended into a moan that eventually bled into a chain of scarcely-spaced mewls that seemed to bounce off the walls around them.

He leaned forward, buried his face in his neck, clamped down around him, back arching like a cat's, nails digging into his arms, rocking harder and faster until finally the coil snapped again. He collapsed into the worn out red-eyed boy who just barely kept from falling over by grabbing the bed cover as tightly as he could. His hand slowly reached up to rub at Yugi's back for a moment, closing his eyes and breathing hard.

And it wasn't until twenty minutes had passed that Yami finally let go of him and growled, "I was serious earlier" as he pushed Yugi back against the mattress, pulling away and out of him in one swift motion, giving him a somewhat bitter and cynical look. "I don't want to be used anymore. And I won't use you either."

Yugi gave him a startled, slightly hazed look before opening his mouth.

"Leave."

"What?" he choked, eyes wide.

Yami glanced at him as he got up to grab the Puzzle off the nightstand where he found that the bottom had been touching the bed; why this bothered him so much, he wasn't certain, but it did. "I said you have to leave."

"Oh, no, I _heard _that," Yugi hissed. "But what the fuck—"

"I'm not using you and you're not using me either. I'm tired of it. I've lost all passion for it. But then…that always happens, right? When things are one-sided? When they're just for _fun_?" Yami narrowed his eyes into slits, the gleam of the sunlight making them look almost predatory. "Someone always gets bored, Yugi. Because that's human nature. We get bored with our toys."

Yugi opened and closed his mouth and then stared some more.

"I'll give you twenty minutes to get out. After that, if you're not gone, I'm going to throw you out on your ass for everyone to see," he spat before turning and walking off into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door.

He turned on the water but listened for Yugi moving outside the door, heard him grabbing his clothes, grabbing what he guessed was the towel from the sink out there, turning on the water and then walking off. He couldn't hear him get dressed, not that he would have regardless with the water on. But he did hear the door when it opened and closed again, not even a slam of a noise.

Yami breathed hard when he lay back against the door, groaning softly. He was so tired. In all honesty, he was surprised he even got that far in their little rendezvous. And he shouldn't have gotten turned on by that argument. Arguments with Yugi had never turned him on before.

Something was wrong in his head. It had to be.

His own actions made no sense to him anymore.

He shouldn't have acted the way he did.

He wasn't even _angry _before so what the fuck was going on?

Maybe it was some kind of psychotic break.

He honestly wouldn't have been surprised. Everyone seemed to be watching him, waiting for one.

Fuck, his cousins thought he was suicidal. At school they didn't leave his side because they were watching him for it. That phone call had been Bakura checking to make sure he was still alive, as he and Malik and even Seto and _once_, Mokuba—he said he didn't know why but Seto said to call him and so he did, because he didn't know about the "cliff diving" incident, because he hadn't been there to watch his red-eyed cousin drop into the water like a rock without warning, because he didn't even know that Yami couldn't swim—did every single day to make sure he was okay. If he even sounded off, they showed up at his house.

And he _had _sounded off once when they called because he had just woken up from a much needed nap that was again interrupted when Malik burst through the door screaming his name at the top of his lungs and making his head hurt.

Ha, and his father…with all the crap he had put him through, it honestly should have come so much sooner.

* * *

"Atem Sennen."

Yami almost didn't turn around, feeling disconnected from his name and his entire body, gaze widening and eyebrows furrowing; he didn't recognize that voice. He looked over, narrowed his eyes as his muscles tightened in preparation for a fight if he had to.

"Oh, hello Grinch-ducky," he muttered, turning away again as the blond huffed in soft annoyance; he knew without looking over what he was going to ask and instead waved his hand for him to take a seat before he could get the words out. If he was younger he would have been mystified by how the bench failed to creak under someone who seemed so powerful but he had learned a long time before that curiosity was a bitch and commonly fucked pain who made him its mistress when he voiced his thoughts.

"You don't seem surprised to see me."

"Why would I be?" Yami drawled, narrowing his eyes and moving to pull his right leg up to perch his chin on, moving his arms to wrap lazily around it with his fingers dangling over the side of the bench.

"I didn't think you would remember me."

"How could I possibly forget about the Grinch-ducky?"

The man snorted out a soft laugh despite feeling slightly unnerved by the boy's dismissive tone; he went to speak but a slight tilt of his head and the rustle of his clothing, the royal blue collar of his jacket shifting, alerted him to the thick chain around his neck, making curiosity prick at his insides.

Yami's eyes flickered over to regard him slowly, narrowing slightly before he turned away again, not about to start talking about the Puzzle; the blond cleared his throat slightly and shook his head, looking away after a moment as well.

"You came to ask me about why I'm even giving him the chance to drop the charges, yes?"

"…I admit I don't understand it. Why wouldn't you want to go after him?"

"I never said I wasn't going after him," Yami stated, narrowing his eyes and tipping his head slightly to the side. "I plan to go after him. Just…not in the way that you should know."

Rafael stayed silent for a long time. "What do you want to do to him?"

"Make him suffer," he stated simply, glancing at him sideways and scratching his jaw against the fabric of the skinny jeans he was wearing. "And I will. I'll destroy him."

"But if I remember correctly, you said you were going to back off because of your mother."

"Yes."

"But that's a lie."

"Yeah, Sherlock, it's a lie," he snapped, rolling his eyes and sighing with a shake of his head. "Sorry."

"It's fine."

Yami stayed quiet for a long time and finally looked over at him thoughtfully, red eyes gleaming and predatory in the light of the afternoon sun. "I don't want to hurt her."

"I don't understand that."

"She didn't do anything."

"Exactly."

The teen stared for a moment and then smiled wryly. "Sounds like you don't approve of my decision."

"I don't need to approve of it. It's your choice. I just…I want to understand what's going on in your head."

Yami moved his leg off the bench and straightened to regard him fully, eyes gleaming for a moment before he allowed his eyelids to droop and shadow them halfway, looking almost lazy in the way he rested back against the backrest, but Rafael recognized something in the outside corner of his outer pupil. Something dangerous and cunning that made his skin crawl.

And now he understood Seto's warning that he speak straightforward and phrase the questions and statements in the way that Yami couldn't back out of responding to. As long as he was direct, Yami would give him what he wanted, but if he skirted around the edges the other teen was very likely to deter him and lead him down a path that he didn't exactly want to go. And by the time he got his bearings again, Yami would prove a lot smarter than he looked, show that intelligence that he had spoken of before he went to the hospital that day.

"Don't give him room to change the direction of the conversation or you'll never get it back on track," the brunet had said. "He tends to play games with people sometimes. Especially when he's stressed out or in pain. Mind games. He'll turn the conversation from him to you with no way to get out of it."

"I don't think you want in my head," Yami stated quiet, smiling slyly as he tipped his head to the side slightly. "You tend to get lost."

"What is it that you plan to do to him?"

"Didn't we already—?"

"Not long term," Rafael stated, cutting him off and making the red-eyed teen blink in surprise before glowering. "The immediate one. I want to know what you plan to do him _immediately_."

Yami ground his teeth together and looked away, reaching over to grasp at his Puzzle, briefly dragging his nail over the center and closing his eyes. "Seto told you about my little mind games, didn't he?" he sniped, not having to open his eyes to know that he was nodding. "Fucking asshole. Very well. You wish to know what I plan to do to him? If he gives me the chance, I plan to break him. All it takes is him coming close enough for me to do it. Giving me even the slightest reason."

"Physically or mentally?"

"Now isn't _that_ a question?" Yami purred, turning a small glare on him. "You shouldn't ask so many questions you don't actually _want _the answers to."

"Tell me."

"Tell you? Why should I?" he snapped, bristling slightly before slowly shaking his head and turning away with a small smirk. "You should check your stance, Rafael. You're quivering."

The blond cursed under his breath but didn't respond.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes."

"Both."

"Christ." For a long minute the blond couldn't bring himself to speak again, eyes flickering towards the Puzzle which seemed to glow where it shouldn't have, swallowing hard once before dragging his gaze towards the red-eyed teen's face. "You didn't have that at the hospital."

Yami didn't reply immediately, regarding him curiously for a moment. "It was in my backpack. At home." He paused. "If you want the answer, ask the damn question, Rafael. Seto already told you how to fucking do it. So why don't you?"

"What about your mom? What do you plan to do to her?"

"I don't plan to do anything to her."

"But she never helped you."

"She never hurt me either."

"…I don't understand…"

"Have you ever been in love, Rafael?" he asked, watching him closely as a small frown tugged at his lips and he nodded slowly. "Then you should understand what it would mean for me to tear my father to pieces and let her deal with the aftermath."

"You're going to destroy them."

"Do they deserve anything less?"

Rafael begrudgingly turned away, unable to answer.

* * *

Yugi groaned in the back of his throat. How the fuck had he even ended up here? At a gay bar?

He swallowed hard, already extremely self-conscious, probably being paranoid when he felt like someone was _already _checking him out. His arms remained folded over his chest tightly as he leaned against the bar, next to some blonde girl who gave him a small smile but offered no companionship. Not that he wanted it anyways.

But then he glanced around tentatively, his eyes widening and his face twisting into some kind of grimace crossed with a toothy smile…_thing _as he spotted several interested and overly curious gazes all directed towards him.

_So not paranoid_, he thought, turning away again; had he been anyone else, maybe that would have boosted his ego, but there were no red eyes in the group and there were no eyes that caught his attention besides a pair of teal but he didn't bother with them because it was merely the uniqueness of the color that made him look rather than the expression that lingered there.

The blonde girl smiled at him over her cocktail, nodding her head to some mellow electric music drifting out of the speakers. "You've certainly got a lot of admirers," she said kindly. "It feels kind of weird to not have guys looking at _me _for once."

Yugi gave a small nervous, terribly embarrassed laugh as he looked at the counter.

"Would you relax a little?" she muttered, placing her now empty glass on the bar behind them and sighing. "You look like you might want to fight someone. Unfold your arms."

Yugi followed instructions but they fell and felt awkward in placement at his sides and his fingers wouldn't stop twitching, first busying them by scratching unnecessarily at his scalp until it practically burned beneath his nails, followed by leaning his elbows against the bar behind him and then fiddling absently with the hem of his shirt only to end up tracing his belts along his hips lazily before grabbing his wallet and going to count his money because there was nothing more he could do to keep his fingers busy.

"Will you stop fidgeting?" the girl snapped at him suddenly, startling him. "Relax. No one is going to bite you."

"Speak for yourself."

Both of them snapped their attention towards the newcomer, a blond boy with a lazy smirk on his face casually sipping a beer as he looked Yugi up and down slowly. He was kind of short—but of course he was taller than Yugi or Yami—and sort of skinny with tan, sinewy arms that made Yugi's stomach twist in knots. His hair was arranged in effortless spikes but it was clear he used gel by the way that it held itself and looked slightly shiny and sticky altogether. And he looked okay, with large, light blue eyes and a nice smile.

"Can I get you a drink?"

Yugi barked out a laugh. "Do I look anywhere near twenty-one?"

Just like that the smile was gone and he was given a strange look before the guy ambled off with a second glance at him while Yugi blinked once; oh, of course, his personality turned him off. Not the small body or the high-pitched voice that refused to deepen even though he had already hit puberty two years ago.

Right.

He rolled his eyes but was startled when she started laughing next to him.

"Okay, well I officially stand corrected. No one is going to bite, except maybe that guy. He looked carnivorous. Wanted a bite out of that cute ass of yours."

Yugi glowered. "Oh, you're so fucking funny," he hissed at her.

"That was downright hilarious. Oh my god, you totally should have seen your _face_! All flushed and innocent and downright _adorable_. No wonder you've been getting so much attention. I don't know _anyone _who _screams _fairy more than you!"

Yugi blinked once and then glared fiercely before turning away. "Whatever," he snapped.

It was not too bad, because at least the music was okay. The girl kept by his side the entire time, drinking cocktails while he sipped on a soda in order to be able to stay on one of the stools. And he definitely felt so much better with his back to the crowd because at least now he didn't have to _see _the stares. He could still _feel_ them, though, and that was definitely not the best sensation in the world.

"I need to pee," she whispered suddenly, making him look up from his Sprite in surprise, feeling rather strange now that she was addressing him about something other than his so-called admirers. "I'll be right back."

Regardless of this, he nodded and went about drumming his fingers in time with the beat of the music, jumping a mile when a voice asked, "Can I sit here?" alarmingly close to his ear.

It was a trick, he knew it, but it didn't stop him from spinning around with wide hopeful eyes, only to feel his chest cave in as he regarded the newcomer; the teal-eyed boy from before. The boy was tall, with dark midnight black hair that was spiky in the front and was pulled in a ponytail in the back but had bangs that fell over a black and red headband. There was a mark beneath his right eye that looked strange even for a birthmark. And his eyes were sharp and narrow, not nearly as captivating or deep as Yami's, but definitely up there with them. His attire consisted of two parallel golden armbands and matching brown authentically-woven bracelets. On his left ear was a dice earring that hung past his jaw. Dark maroon was the color of his vest which hung over a dark gray-black shirt and black jeans with a single dark gray belt to hold his pants up. He had rather pinkish lips that turned in a boyish smirk.

Yugi blinked when an eyebrow arched and then furrowed his brows for a moment, glancing over his shoulder before turning back and murmured, "I guess you can. I mean, my friend was sitting here"—was she a friend? No, she wasn't a friend, but Yugi couldn't just say "oh that girl was sitting here but she went to the bathroom so I don't know what the fuck to say about that" which was what originally sprang to mind—"so I guess not. I don't know. It's whatever."

He chuckled but it sounded wrong to Yugi's ears. "Don't worry about it." Instead of sitting he stood beside him, leaning against the bar by his elbows and occasionally sipping his amber-colored liquid, humming along to the music and watching the dance floor while Yugi merely sat there silently.

He couldn't help it when he glanced at him sideways, looking him over for a moment, because that was what people did; they looked each other over when they thought they were in the safety of the darkness.

And, of course, Yugi wasn't.

"Where's your friend?" he asked, tilting his head towards him with an amused smirk.

Yugi blinked and twisted around in his seat for a moment, searching before rolling his eyes; if he ever saw her again, he'd cut her head off and put it on a stick, parade around with it and maybe even send it to Yami saying he killed one of his fuck buddies off.

"No idea," he stated, turning back with a shrug. "Said she was going to the bathroom."

"She's been gone nearly half an hour now," he laughed, showing off two rows of perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth. "Is it okay if I take her seat?"

"Sure."

His stomach twisted with the statement and for a brief second his eyes sought out a familiar shape that did not exist in this group.

He sat on the stool and peeked at him from the side of his eye and Yugi felt his stomach clench; fuck, his eyelashes were pretty long. Not as long as his or Yami's by far, but still, they were longer than someone like Joey's or Ushio's or Tristan's. Not…as long as Tea's either.

"What's your name?"

"Yugi. You?"

He smirked. "I'm Duke."

Yugi opened his mouth to say something or other—he honestly had no idea what—but then his phone rang and when he pulled it out, the number made his stomach twist. Ugh, he didn't want to have to deal with Rebecca right now.

But the moment he put his phone away it vibrated with a text message that made his mind flood with a million different possibilities.

_Okay, see you later._

And it wasn't directed towards him either, because obviously, he hadn't been talking to him since earlier so he had misdirected the text, confirmed a moment later when the next came in.

_Shit, sorry. That wasn't meant for you._

_No shit, _Yugi thought wryly, wishing he could see Yami's face if only to punch him in the nose.

For the next ten minutes it was too quiet for him. The boy next to him—Duke—kept watching him from the corner of his eye and when he spoke to make conversation, Yugi could not keep himself involved for longer than a minute. He couldn't focus on the teal-eyed boy. No, his mind kept conjuring up all the possibilities and giving him images he really wished he could destroy.

A red-eyed boy on top of Mai, inside of Mai, fucking Mai…

A red-eyed boy kissing someone, inside of someone, on top of someone, fucking someone…

A red-eyed boy pushing Tea against the wall, a piece of him inside of Tea, finger-fucking Tea…

He wished his head would explode right about this moment. Just to give him some peace, because the next moment, there was the image of those bright vibrant red eyes—those piercing red eyes…those _furious_, soul-wrenching red eyes.

"How old are you, Yugi?" Duke asked suddenly, angling towards him on his stool; if he noticed his lack of conversational skills or the fact that Yugi had mixed vodka with his Sprite when the bartender was not looking, he said nothing.

"Sixteen."

"Then how did you get into this bar?" he inquired, smirking widely, elevating a trim, dark eyebrow.

Yugi shrugged. "I'm small. Hardly noticeable. Snuck in. Might as well be invisible half the time," he said emotionlessly.

"So you're still in high school."

"Yeah. Where else would a sixteen-year-old be?"

He expected him to be offended, but when he laughed Yugi had to make sure he hadn't been overheard and that wasn't someone else, surprised when the teal eyes danced with amusement.

"How old are _you_?"

"Eighteen."

Yugi took a massive sip of his soda-vodka and his head felt like it was pulsing with the music as he nodded once.

"How are you getting home?" he asked, putting his empty beer on the bar top and watching him curiously.

"Well, I walked so—"

"There is no way I am letting you walk home under the influence," he said slyly. "It's bad _enough _that I'm the one who bought you the alcohol in the first place. Especially seeing as you're underage."

Wait, had he just said he was going to _pay _for the vodka he had smuggled?

Yugi gave him a long, measured look and then downed the rest of his cup, closing his eyes against the buzzing that suddenly enveloped his mind. Holy fuck. "I don't have any other way to get home. Besides, I'm not drunk. I can manage walking a few blocks"—ha, a _few_ didn't mean sixteen—"I'll just be extra careful of anyone looking for a short person to capture."

"Here, I'll drive you."

The small teen frowned a little but then shrugged halfheartedly; obviously Duke wasn't about to back down so whatever. But it was when they got out there that things seemed to suddenly fall into perspective out of nowhere.

Yugi was buzzed, yes, but not stupid and piss-faced. He realized the moment that Duke opened the back door what he meant by "drive".

The small teen gave him a furious look. "Just because you buy me a drink doesn't mean shit," he snapped. Ha, _buy_. All he did was leave a few extra bills on the counter to make up for the vodka Yugi stole in the first place. That wasn't _buying _someone a drink. It was _paying _for stolen property.

Duke raised an eyebrow at him. "You said you wanted a ride—"

"Not like _that_!" he spat. "I meant in the car—"

The taller boy rolled his eyes and gestured. "It would be _in _the car."

"As in buckled up, you actually _driving _the damn _car_, not trying to make me _ride _you in the backseat."

But the more he studied him, even with the haze in his mind, he knew for a fact that the older boy was drunk. And he had to wonder why he didn't notice this before. What the hell was wrong with him that he didn't recognize it?

Oh right, Yami was what was wrong with him.

When the kiss happened Yugi was reeling with the blow of dark red eyes narrowed into a look of hatred. When fingers traveled up his arm and cupped the back of his head, stroking the hair there, he was fighting off the burn of his aching heart. When the knee pressed between his legs, he was drowning in the memory of their little fuck in the bathroom. When he felt the hand on his cheek, he knew without a doubt that this was not Yami and that was why he pushed Duke hard.

The other boy stumbled.

"If I was looking for a fuck, I would have found one on my own!" he snarled. "In fact, I have a person who I do this with all the goddamned time. Granted we're"—he hiccupped and the noise threw him for a loop for a second before he remembered what he was saying—"fighting, but _still_."

God, he wasn't even looking for someone else. He was just looking for a way to drown out his problems and a farther club that was close enough he could walk but one where it wouldn't be obvious who he was or what he was doing, where the rumors wouldn't exist. Where he wouldn't feel the weight of his grandfather's disappointment towards his actions a mile away. And this had been the only place he could find—a bar, a _gay_ bar that he hadn't even realized existed until this very moment, one that he would have avoided if he had realized it was a gay bar _before _he got there. But it had been too late for him to turn away and besides, the guy had paid for his stolen drink…

When he reached out, Yugi smacked his hand away. "Don't fucking touch me."

When he approached again, Yugi grabbed a stone and hurled it; the entire back windshield broke into glittering shards of raining glass that he admired for a split second before he was knocked down. He landed with a sharp thudding noise, with Duke weighing heavily on top of him.

And then they were rolling and pulling at each other's hair, snarling and fighting and kicking and punching; it was only after he landed a blow to the nose that Duke faltered enough for him to knee him hard in the hip and slam his elbow into his ribs.

He was too buzzed to really remember what Yami had done to restrain him that day, what he had done to pin Joey at school. But either way, the three hits made blood leak like a faucet and Duke lashed out but he managed to twist out of the way, punching him in the lip and breathing hard.

And maybe he should have tried to talk Duke out of fighting him, warned him that he was drunk, told him to knock it off, but he didn't want to.

He wanted to fight.

He wanted to make him bleed.

So what kind of person did that make him?

When Duke stopped moving, only then did Yugi realize the extent of the damage he had caused. The taller boy's shirt was stained and blackened against the light of the streetlamp further off down the street. One of his teal eyes was already beginning to swell; his straight nose and pink lips were a bloody mess. He stumbled to his feet, took two tentative steps forward, peering down at the splatters of his blood that stained the dark asphalt of the road.

And relief flooded him slowly but surely when he saw his chest moving up and down quickly.

He groaned as he slowly turned on his side and spat out more blood onto the road, snarling, "You _will _pay for this windshield."

"Fuck you," Yugi spat, moving forward—presumably to kick him, he supposed; he didn't really know, because he was a little low on steam and tired and his right leg hurt like someone had blown it to pieces—but then merely shook his head slowly.

Duke finally got up from the ground in a slow, tentative movement, wincing several times on the way to his full height, before looking around for his keys slowly; when he finally got them, he limped over to the driver's seat, shooting him one last look over his shoulder.

It was only after he drove off that Yugi allowed himself to succumb to the pain in his leg, taking a seat and laying it out, hissing in pain when he tried to move it, pulling his phone out and dialing.

"Grandpa?"

The elderly Motou murmured a groggy, "Yugi? Where are you?"

"I…" Was the pain in his leg really worth all of this humiliation and sure-to-come disappointment that would mar his grandfather's face upon coming to pick him up? "Grandpa, I twisted my leg. And I can't walk. I'm…I'm buzzed."

For a moment he thought that Solomon would ask what that meant exactly but a small gentle sigh of "Oh Yugi" told him he knew exactly what it meant and the small boy couldn't help the tears that stung his eyes, the way that they fell down his cheeks like twin waterfalls.

* * *

Yugi looked his ass over, studying himself excessively in the full body mirror. He had a nice ass. A little fuller than Yami's, cuter, rounder, but where his was round and cute, Yami's had this strange quality that made you really lust after it. It was luscious, somewhat flat but with enough to it that it filled out his jeans nicely and left a lot of girls in school—before the whole incident anyways—practically drooling over it. Yugi remembered all the time he had listened to girls chatting about "the new kid's ass" freshman year.

He wiggled his bottom a couple of times and then smirked. If he could have fucked himself, he definitely would have, but he couldn't so he would have to settle for Yami's ass instead of his.

* * *

It was so odd because he had seen the red-eyed teen only a week ago, and yet he was starting to get impatient and every cell in his body wanted Yami close to him…or rather, close to his tongue and his penis, but still close to him in the physical sense. And it was so sickening because at some point he started staring at the couch as if it might turn into the taller boy and it was exciting in the most disgusting of ways.

He was like some kind of junky and that disgusted him on so many levels he couldn't even wrap his head around it. If that couch _did _turn into Yami, he swore he'd pray every single day and slaughter a cow, dance around fire and bathe in the rain if he had to.

He knew he had problems with people being out of his life—his parents were never around, his grandfather was always away on expeditions for fuck's sake—but this was ridiculous. He had withdrawal symptoms. He was twitchy upon awakening—but that could have been the sex dreams—and he kept hoping that Yami would walk through the door. And then of course he berated himself for being an idiot because Yami could not walk through the door without knocking first and Yugi _letting _him in and then his mind would go on a completely different path that at some point, once _again _ended with sex.

He wasn't even sure how it happened and it made his head spin.

He jumped off his chair and got as _far away _as possible from the couch before the cushions turned into ass cheeks and ran his hands through his hair. He was definitely losing his shit.

He wanted—no, he _needed—_to see Yami again.

The only problem was that he was not sure if _Yami _wanted to see _him_. Considering the shit storm that they had unleashed on each other, it would not surprise him in the _least _if Yami did not want to speak to him—at all. He hadn't even gotten up the courage to call the taller teen, that's how badly he was scared he had ruined things between them.

* * *

Duke Devlin. He claimed he fucked the shit out Yugi in the backseat of his car.

Yugi had neither denied nor confirmed this because it took too much energy. It took too much energy trying to persuade people who had already made up their minds about him having taken it up the ass from the teal-eyed boy. Far too much energy trying to change their minds. He didn't want to waste more than he had to as it was.

He was so tired of that bastard. So he rejected him. So what?

It really shouldn't have been that surprising.

But the look Yami gave him when the rumor hit his ears, the way he seemed to crumble in on himself momentarily, the way, for that brief second, his eyes looked haunted as if someone had just killed him, had killed _him _inside.

And it was worse because the red-eyed boy refused to look at him again afterwards. He didn't look over in his general direction. He didn't even bother raising his head when the teacher called his name to ask how their project was going.

And the teacher's reaction to his silence, the way he wouldn't answer, was anything but good. Yami was written up for not behaving when someone claimed that he had done that to them—and he had, so he was forced to do the same to Yami—and the red-eyed teen had snatched the slip from him, torn it up, and walked out of class without a second glance.

Dear gods, things really were fucking up, weren't they?

* * *

"I agree to your terms."

Yami was leaning back in his seat across from his father, across from Seto, across from his lawyer Rafael who would give him strange looks every now and then. Almost as if he expected him to show fear in the face of the man before him.

But Yami didn't.

Because, around his neck, was the Puzzle.

And it shone a million different ways in the fluorescent lights.

"Then drop the lawsuit," he stated in a bored tone, not really paying attention to what was going on, more preoccupied with the things in his head that wouldn't leave. Of course Yugi had gone and gotten fucked. Why wouldn't he? That was what he did. He had fuck buddies. He didn't date.

He fucked and had fun with it. He pushed and pushed until you couldn't take it anymore.

And Yami hated him _so _much because of this. But it made so much sense and he felt so stupid for not realizing how pointless it was to even _think for a second _that Yugi would do anything else.

But Duke Devlin?

He glowered at a spot just behind his father's head, wishing he could burn a hole through it.

Duke Devlin was a piece of shit.

He used people and tossed them aside.

He commonly fucked with people—not physically but emotionally, mentally, beat them down and didn't bother to see if they got back up again.

But the black eye he sported, the busted lip, the way he winced every now and then when he breathed…

What if it hadn't been consensual?

What if he had raped him?

Yami thought it over. That would explain Yugi's silence.

Maybe. Possibly.

Ha, Yugi would be silent either fucking way.

Yami rolled his eyes as his father's lawyer started talking and his eyes flickered towards Seto who narrowed his gaze and gave him a warning look that he pointedly returned with a glare.

* * *

Yami wasn't even really sure why he was thinking of her at the moment, but a glance at his worksheet answered that question; his science homework was on the genes that would be passed to a couple's child.

He was half-tempted to write "temper, mental issues, monsters and lack of empathy" under the block for his father and "stupidity, weakness, blind eyes and disillusion" under his mother's.

Because, honestly, how was it possible that you could turn a blind eye to your husband beating your child right in front of you and then turn around and comfort him at night?

He closed his eyes for a long moment.

And he really had to wonder where he went wrong with it all.

What had he _done _exactly to make it seem okay for her to stand aside while his father did that?

The few times she had intervened had been when it had gotten to be too much and his father had never _once_ raised a hand to her.

No, she _had _the power to stop it if she wanted. All she had to do was get in between them, but she never had.

Did she honestly think it was normal? That the scolding he _occasionally _gave her was ordinary? That the beatings he had suffered through since before he could even _remember _were supposed to be part of everyday life?

Yami grabbed at his bangs, tugging harshly for a moment.

Maybe he was just as stupid and delusional and plain _blind_ as she was. He had to have gotten it from someone.

Because if he hadn't, how could he have ended up this way?

* * *

"I don't think that's…" Yami started, frowning and trailing off before crossing his arms and staring at his blond cousin who arched a brow at him and stared pointedly. "Seriously, that's…Malik, I don't think…"

Why was it so hard to get the words out of his mouth?

Was it because he wanted it?

No, that couldn't be it, could it?

Yami had never wanted something like that before, no matter the stress of the situation.

"Look, Yami, you won't even _remember _what happened afterwards," he stated, gesturing.

"I think that's the whole point of getting fucked up in the first place," the red-eyed teen snorted in amusement, shaking his head and frowning as he continued looking at it. "But I don't know, Malik…"

"God, you're a fucking wimp," he groaned, rolling his eyes. "It's not going to _hurt _you."

Yami narrowed his eyes and glanced at him from the corner, tilting his head and raising a brow. "You mean to tell me that I _can't _get fucking diabetes or high blood pressure or clogged arteries or—?"

"Ra fucking—I knew I should have told Bakura to come instead!"

The red-eyed teen flinched slightly and looked back at the cooler that the blond had brought over; it wasn't a secret that he crashed violently when he had too much sugar, not even slightly. Just like it wasn't a secret that he and Malik were always at odds and tended to feel a little…_inconvenienced _when they were pushed together for longer than a few minutes with no one else around._  
_

"Shit, I'm sorry," Malik muttered, frowning. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Didn't you?" Yami mumbled, shaking his head. "Whatever."

Yami tended to freak Malik out. It wasn't on purpose and he didn't want it to happen, but it did. The blond didn't know how to act around him after he found out all of the things that his dad had done. He didn't know how to react to his flinches or silence or his temper. He didn't understand what he was supposed to do to get closer to him and he didn't have the knowledge of how to keep from scaring him when he moved too fast and Yami would watch him as if he was prepared for him to lash out.

And Malik was too much for Yami. He didn't think before he did things. And he was tactile. He liked to touch things, to see just how badly he could scare others with simple taps of the finger to someone else's skin. He was loud. He talked fast. He got impatient too easily. He got mad over the simplest things.

The relationship was so strained between them that half the time it was a wonder they could coexist at all. The two of them never got together willingly, not without a push or someone else with them. Because otherwise things were just too different and odd and just plain _wrong _for them.

Seto and Bakura had honestly given up a long time ago trying to make them comfortable together, and it was obviously a strain for them both because they wanted them to be close as cousins. And neither was oblivious to this or the fact that Mokuba was the only one who tried and tried but always ended up empty handed for his efforts.

The red-eyed teen undid the lid and peered inside at the candies and sodas and ice creams that the other male had brought, frowning at the concept of eating until he was running on a sugar high and crashed like an overworked animal.

"Look, all right, if you don't want to do this—"

"No, no, it's fine," Yami cut in, putting on a weak, strained smile, trying to placate him and failing miserably; how could he pacify him if he couldn't do it for himself? "Just…give me a second to think."

He was honestly surprised when three minutes later, Malik had yet to shout "Second's up!" and throw something in his hand or grab something for himself and race off to start eating all of the sugar; he couldn't even see impatience on his face when he glanced over from the corner of his eye and cautiously reached in to grab a can of Sprite.

Malik snatched a popsicle as soon as he had moved his hand out of the way, tearing the wrapping open and shoving it in his mouth; Yami fought back the urge to flinch at the sudden movements, instead busying himself with opening the can and breathing hard against the metal as he pretended to take a sip.

Ra, how awkward…

Malik had stuffed a popsicle in his mouth to keep from having to talk and Yami was trying to steady himself by breathing harshly against the top of a soda can; how much worse could this situation get?

He swallowed hard, let the freezing cold liquid burn down his throat, the fizz of carbonation nearly making him choke but sheer will keeping him from doing so. The teen next to him was studiously sucking and staring at the cooler, intent on not having eye contact or making any sudden movements.

"TV?" Yami blurted out, moving the can away from his face and gesturing wildly towards the big screen; his cousin looked at him as if he had just given him entrance to heaven, grabbing the cooler and going over to the couches quickly.

He sucked in a breath, held it for a minute, and then finally moved towards the furniture as well, going to the other side and taking a seat, grabbing some candy from the massive white container in front of them, unsure of what else he could do. He couldn't make conversation because then Malik would get animated and Yami wasn't under the disillusion that he could handle him if he did.

Ra, he was so pathetic.

"I, uh…thanks for coming over," he managed to hiss out.

Malik's mauve eyes settled on him for a long second before he looked away with a simple "Yep."

Yami hung his head, tapping his fingers against the side of the can and hesitating ripping open the bag of M&Ms in his hand. If he started eating too much sugar, he wouldn't stop until he crashed. But what else was there to really do? Ever since he had kicked Yugi out, he had been constantly assaulted with his cousins' presences for the reason of his dad staying nearby in a hotel down the street.

And who knew what his cousins would do if he entered the house?

Yami was pretty sure that Bakura was liable to stab the shit out of him, Malik was likely to pin him to the wall and watch him bleed to death, and Seto…well, he'd probably go with the cleanest way of assassination, gun, a bullet right between the eyes.

Vaguely he remembered archery class, having organs listed off for them to aim at for the dummies. He remembered the way that the bow had quivered when he released and the way that his instructor had looked at him as if he was a living, breathing demon when he was told to aim for a target that was all the way across the lake.

The thought sent him chugging the Sprite in his hand and Malik jerked his head in his direction, confused by the sudden action and alarmed when his cousin started tearing the M&Ms open to chuck them into his mouth and swallow the entire thing with minimal chewing.

"Shit, Yami, slow down," he muttered, somewhat awed when the other teen started grabbing the popsicles and pulling one out to start chomping on the flavored ice, eyebrows crinkling slightly in a show of a brain-freeze that he refused to acknowledge.

He shouldn't have been but he was laughing when his red-eyed cousin spun on him with a furious look as if he wanted to tear his head off before going for the sweets again, hurrying to tear at the wrappers of candy and chug another Sprite. Well, at least at this rate he wouldn't have to worry about him being awake for long. He'd crash and then he could just relax and watch TV all day.

Plus Yami would get his artificial high and not have much space to think in that massive mind of his and Malik could just lay around and not bother with him and—What the _fuck_? Why was he suddenly slowing down like that?

Red eyes were gleaming when they slid over to study him slowly, a frown twisting his lips. "Why did you even come over here?" he asked, sitting up slightly. "We can't even get along for five seconds when we're alone. And yet here you are."

"What? You expected me not to come?" he asked in disbelief.

"You just want me to crash so we don't have to deal with each other," Yami muttered slowly, narrowing his eyes but not stopping himself from opening the Kit Kat bar. "You could have just stayed home—"

"Fucking—Look, I'm uncomfortable with you but I don't fucking _hate _you!" he spat, eyes widening incredulously, shaking his head slightly. "What the ever-lasting fuck, Yami?"

The other teen shook his head and looked at the candy bar, bringing the chocolate-covered wafer to his mouth and taking a small bite to chew thoughtfully. "Sorry."

"_Ra_, if I hated you, I wouldn't have followed up on having to call you all the goddamned time after school and I sure as _fuck _wouldn't have shown up here when you sounded so weird," he snapped, his insides coiling with tension; he didn't know how much worse a relationship they could have at this rate. But it was so strained because of both of them; neither of them had really put forth much effort when it came to it because they were both unsure of what to do or how to reach out and the other scared the crap out of them. With a third party it was easy because they could focus more of them than each other but like this, they had nothing to actively distract them. But either way it still felt like a kick in the gut to have Yami think that he would do that to him.

The red-eyed teen bit his cheek and the taste of his blood, the wafer and the chocolate made him flinch slightly as he unclenched his jaw, swallowing hard. "I never thought you did," he admitted, frowning. "I just…I could understand if you didn't want to be here. I mean, obviously you don't, but I would have understood if you decided to not come and just called or something instead—"

"What part of your dad being here do you not _get_, Yami?" he growled.

"I understand that!" he snapped, turning a glare on him. "What I don't understand is why you came here when you didn't even fucking have to! I scared him off last time—"

"_Last time_?" Malik echoed immediately. "What _last time_? Last time you fucking went down the stairs with a few broken ribs and a fractured fucking wrist. Oh yeah, you _really _scared him off. Must have been all the _blood_, Yami."

Yami stayed quiet, swallowing hard and deciding not to comment; he didn't need them knowing about that. Especially not when he had told Bakura that he had been fucking Yugi that day. They didn't need more to deal with.

He shifted awkwardly and went back to grabbing some sweets from the cooler.

"Damn it, I'm so—"

"No, you're right," he stated with a shrug. "I didn't do anything to protect myself. My fault. I'm an idiot. Don't worry about it."

"Yami—"

"You know, if you could go make coffee, that would be really great, Malik."

"Coffee?"

"Yeah, I want coffee."

"What? But caffeine—I thought you were going to…"

"Oh, I'm going to crash. I just need something to wash this down with."

"Soda…"

"Damn it, Malik, I want some fucking coffee."

The blond flinched, eyes wide; Yami had never actually snapped at him like this, turned to face him completely, eyes narrowed into a blazing glare, jaw clenched and entire body rigid. He moved to get to his feet, unnerved by the way that Yami didn't break eye contact and then slowly turned on his heel to get into the kitchen.

Fucking hell, his cousin.

Two hours later he found out exactly why his cousin wanted the coffee; he was halfway through the stupid programming, surfing the channels, and he looked towards him when his mind registered the fact that he wasn't moving around anymore, only to find that he was passed out. The teen was curled up on his side in the fetal position, a cushion under his head and his entire body suddenly seeming that much smaller.

Malik didn't know whether to be impressed or freaked out by that.

* * *

The day she came Yami was working on the project. And it was stupid, because he didn't know what the fuck he was supposed to do with it anymore, but he was still working on it. Three weeks…he didn't understand why the teacher gave them an extra three weeks. It was awkward and strange, but he supposed it was because the beginning of second half of the semester would be _after_ all the major tests and projects they had for other classes.

Or maybe he was taking pity on him. Maybe after he had gotten written up and left the room, he decided that things weren't going well between him and Yugi and just decided to move the date further back for them. It was possible. After all, as he had said, Yami was apparently his best student.

And what teacher _wouldn't _try to help out their best student if they had the chance?

He definitely wasn't complaining. Of course not. Not when he and Yugi didn't have a single thing done but the sixty-page essay that Yugi still needed to revise completely for them to make sure that there were no punctuation mistakes.

It was kind of funny, because his literature teacher didn't even pay as much attention to his punctuation as his history teacher did.

He wasn't expecting anyone when he opened the door and he definitely never expected her to be there—not once in a million years.

His stomach twisted and his fight-or-flight instinct made his body thrum with energy beneath his skin, his muscles preparing, his entire being going rigid and his breathing quickening for a split moment.

"M-mother," he managed to get out, wide-eyed. "W-what are you—? Is father—?"

"Atem."

She sounded so proud and yet so heartbroken it was overwhelming.

And Yami wasn't delusional. He knew the pride was merely because he looked okay, because he wasn't dead or something. And he knew the heartbreak. Because he mirrored it.

But he still had that weak desire to sink into the depths of her voice, drown in it, hear her sing songs to him to make him fall asleep at night, in that sweet tone that relaxed him no matter how bad things really got.

But no, the time had passed for that. He was alone in this.

Neither his mother nor his father would accept it.

And that was why she was here.

"Father said you never wanted to see me again," he muttered, because he had; not in those exact words, but the context of it was the same. _My wife _not _your mother_. _My wife_.

She took a deep breath, sighed through her nose, stepped inside, walked past him, waited for him to close the door, turned around…

"Oh, Atem, tell me it's not true."

He shook his head. "I cannot do that."

She stared and her dark gray-blue-red-flecked eyes watered. "Please, tell me it's not true."

He shook his head again. "Denial will help no one."

"It's not true. Tell me it's not true!"

"It's true," he snapped. "It's true. I am gay."

The slap was hard and sent him stumbling but he didn't fall, merely glancing at her and wondering vaguely if he had ever really _not _been alone. She had stood aside each time, had let his father tear into him, and she only ever checked on him several hours after everything had occurred, with such _false _promises…

"You say that almost as if you are proud!" she spat, shaking her head with the beginning of tears in her eyes.

Yami didn't answer her, because he just got tired of her denial. He wasn't proud of it. Years of living with them made him fully ashamed of himself. But what would be the point of saying this? It would ease no one's pain. And if she wished to think that he was proud of himself for this, that was her own right.

She was entitled to being wrong.

It didn't matter to him anyways.

It would all be over soon enough.

And after…

Well, there really wasn't much of an after that he knew of.

Right now, he only had the strength to deal with the present.

"How could you be proud of such a thing?" she cried, shaking her head as a tear leaked from her left eye. "It makes no sense. We raised you better than this! We raised you to be the best and you've turned into…a lowlife child like the rest of them at that stupid school!"

He didn't argue. He didn't have the strength to do something that would change nothing. He was tired. He wanted to get the stupid project done. He wanted high school over. He wanted to be able to drop it all and then just go to the next continent that caught his attention. Maybe Europe…possibly Australia. Fuck, he'd go to Antarctica if only there were people there and he wouldn't be allowed to wallow on his mistakes.

"You will always be my mother, as he will always be my father. That is biology. But biology is fickle. You may have passed a lot to me by DNA, but you did not pass along your intolerance or stupidity. You can disown me all you would like, but that does not mean much because you both have already proved that whatever strengths you may have once possessed, have been swallowed by the thought processes and natural instincts to become seriously flawed. How you feel about me is yours to shuffle as you see fit. But this is about you two, not me."

Another slap made him stumble but did not knock him to his knees.

"This is about you two—your inadequacies, your ignorance, your inability to accept, your fears of what others think of you. But you both used to pretend you were so selfless when it came to me. But selfishness is exactly what this all boils down to. Not once have either of you asked how I have dealt with this. Did you think I _wanted_ this? No, of course I didn't. And of course it never crossed your minds. All you two have _ever _thought of is yourselves. My upbringing was so that you two would look better, not because you wanted the best for me."

"Ra would never have intended for this lifestyle. You should get on your knees and pray for forgiveness from our god."

Yami stared blankly. "Ra? You dare to bring _Ra _into this?" he spat. "Ra has no bearing upon anything! And how would you know what a god wishes, mother? You are not a god, no matter how much you wish to be. Father will never make it as high as he seeks to reach because you both pretend that you know the work of a higher power when you know _nothing_!"

He felt like he might be foaming at the mouth but it felt right and he didn't want to stop, so despite her horrified expression, like he had struck her, he continued.

"Even if Ra cared so deeply about the life of _one _insignificant speck on one planet in a universe compiled of trillions of other planets, what makes you think that you know the desires of a _god_?" He shook his head and glared at her. "What happened to what you used to tell me when I was young, mother? What happened to 'No matter what you do, where you go, or who you become, I will always love you, I will always protect you, and you will always be my little boy, always and forever'—what happened to that? Have I changed so much that you can't possibly love me anymore?"

This time he didn't even stagger, but she did. She fell into him and they both went to the ground on their knees. Yami wasn't sure what possessed him to stay where he was, because as much as he loved her with everything he had, he wanted away from her—so far away.

She was crying and he should have cared—and maybe in the deepest recesses of his mind, where his heart actually _was _breaking with the blow of it all, he truly did—but the energy was too much. He was still so, so tired…

Okay, so he hadn't expected her to look him in the eye and hand him a box of condoms and lube and tell him to go find a nice guy with her blessing, but this shit was ridiculous. What the hell was so horrible about it all?

He didn't understand it, not even after having it drilled in his head for so long.

Sure, it scared him, but he was okay. He was healthy. He was fine. He wasn't dying. Ra had not decided to kill him. Ra had done nothing to punish him—his own bad choices were his punishment…_Yugi_ was his punishment. But that was it.

What _had_ happened to her?

To saying "No matter what you do, where you go, or who you become, I will always love you, I will always protect you, and you will always be my little boy, always and forever" every night before bed? He had missed her so much in those two years he had been gone. He had stayed up his whole first month because she never said it.

Perhaps…somewhere along the line, they all changed.

And he was okay with that. He was okay with being too independent to need her words every night. And he was okay with being strong enough to actually stand up to his father at moments when he truly needed to. And he was okay with being different.

What he wasn't okay with was their acting as if he was not their son, like they didn't know him anymore, like he was a stranger, completely disposable and easy to replace.

No tears came from his eyes like he thought they might have months before.

Instead he merely hugged her tightly, didn't bother to say anything else. Didn't bother to say he loved her.

He did, but the words wouldn't come out of his mouth. He still loved her so much…

"You will not receive a blessing for the shame you have brought upon us."

She was sobbing into his chest but her voice was strong despite it.

He wondered where he got his strength from. His mother or his father…

"But please, don't expect any further communication with me, with your father, with us," she begged, though her voice still held that undercurrent of strength. "We will not come to visit, nor do we want you in our lives. You have made your choice—however wrong it may be. Ra did not intend for this unnatural lifestyle and if you are ever to return to Egypt…do not ever seek us out again. I wish you only the best in life."

Yami stood up first, because that was what his gut told him to do, and when he offered his hand, she took it for what they both knew would be the last time. "I understand," was all he said in response.

She took his face in her hands, held him there, stared deep into his eyes, and then turned and walked off.

Yami didn't bother to watch her departure.


End file.
